Mazda 3 2009 News

Mazda Australia has issued a national recall for 124,686 examples of its last-generation Mazda2, Mazda3 and Mazda6 models which were sold between September 2007 and March 2012.

Mazda has issued a global recall of more than 2.2 million cars from across its range to rectify a potential corrosion issue that affects some of its best-selling models.

The entry level Neo model of the popular Mazda3 doesn't have a reversing camera, and many expected the brand to fit one as standard when it announced a pricing adjustment as a result of the free trade agreement with Japan.Instead, the brand made rear parking sensors and alloy wheels standard on the Neo, despite the fact that some of the cheapest cars on the market — including the Toyota Yaris and Honda Jazz — now have cameras as standard equipment."It might surprise you," Benders said, "but I don't have a string of customer complaints or comments saying, 'where's my reversing camera?'"There is no silver bullet to stop accidentsBenders said a reversing camera shouldn't be relied on to guard against driveway tragedies involving young children."I don't see the driveway as being a place where kids should be walking around in the first place," he said."I expect that people who drive cars take care and attention about how they drive their cars. Reversing cameras are not infallible. They're more an aid but so are reverse parking sensors and they will pick up obstacles in the same way."He later clarified his comments, saying he hadn't meant to be dismissive about the cameras, but was making the point that drivers had to take responsibility for road safety, rather than rely on crash-avoidance technology."There is no silver bullet to stop accidents," he said.

Increasing competition in the hot hatch segment has pushed Mazda plans for a Mazda 3 MPS powered by a turbocharged 2.5-litre, according to insiders in Japan.

The Japanese brand has boosted the features list for the small car range by adding Bluetooth - already standard in key competitors Cruze and Corolla - to the entry-level $20,330 Neo model without adding to the price tag.The system will enable hands free phone use and music streaming, the latter also on offer via a USB input. A USB connection also allows for full iPod integration and function via the steering-wheel mounted controls and information being displayed on the centre display.So far this year the Mazda3 has sold more than 28,000 units and was just ahead of the Toyota's HiLux range of two and four-wheel drive utility vehicles in second and the soon-to-be-replaced Corolla in third.Mazda Australia's national marketing manager, Alastair Doak, says the Mazda3 is Australia's most popular car and the updates were designed to maintain that. “With the introduction of Bluetooth and USB across the entire range, offering even more value to the customer, we expect the appeal to continue.“The fact that the latest enhancements come at no extra cost shows that we are intent on giving Mazda buyers more,” he says. Mazda facelifted the top-seller last year, so the extra equipment is part of an upgrade the company would hope helps keep the hatch and sedan range in the top tier of the car sales race, as the next Mazda3 is not likely until next year.The Mazda3 MPS hot hatch has also been updated with changes to the paintwork and wheels, with no change to the $39,490 price tag. “It's a tweak with the MPS - it was made available to us, the MPS wasn't part of that facelift last year so it was an opportunity for us to bring some updates to the MPS as well,” Mr Maciver says.Exterior mirrors, part of the rear spoiler and rear lower bumper are now painted in a black mica colour, the radio reception is now taken care of by a shark fin antenna and the alloy wheels have taken on a dark metallic hue. “The main volume market for the (Mazda6 MPS) car is the US but ultimately the volume wasn't there, that's the reason the decision was made to stop production of the car, there's no plans to add more MPS models,” he says. 

There's a two-year waiting list of 60 buyers for the $580,00 Ferrari F458 Italia, and luxury brands BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi also had strong sales months.  But its just not the high end of the car market seeing good times return.   New car sales rose 20 per cent last month compared to last November.Bargain buys and the Federal Government's small business tax break for new vehicles are driving sales.  Among the star cars last month were the Holden Cruze, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai i30 and Mazda Mazda3 - all with starting prices around $20,000.Toyota's workhorse HiLux ute was the best-seller for the month, clocking up 4230 sales largely because of the small business incentive package.  More than 85,000 new vehicles hit the road, up 14,000 vehicles compared to November last year.Many businesses are in a last-minute rush to take advantage of government tax incentives for utes and vans, which ends on December 31. "This is an extraordinary result that provides further evidence that the market and the broader Australian economy are showing signs of recovery," Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Andrew McKellar said."Business sales increased an incredible 35.4 per cent during the month; spurred on by the substantial incentives available until the end of the year," he said.  The off-roader segment was one of the most popular with sales surging 44 per cent.Top 10 cars - November1 Toyota HiLux 42302 Holden Commodore 39563 Toyota Corolla 33094 Ford Falcon 28635 Mazda3 25486 Holden Cruze 22747 Mitsubishi Lancer 20238 Toyota Camry 20039 Hyundai i30 199810 Toyota Yaris 1725

The Mercedes-Benz E Class is good, the Ford Fiesta is better, but the Golf is best of all from more than 100 new cars that landed in Australia over the past year.

The smiley-faced new 3 takes over from one of the most impressive small cars to hit Australia in a decade.

The claimed 5.7L/100km efficiency from the high-tech manual-only 2.2-litre turbo diesel will make the Mazda 3 sedan and hatch the most fuel miserly models in Mazda's Australian range

The Toyota four cylinder eclipsed the Holden Commodore by just 35 cars last month to become the biggest seller. It is the fourth time in 18 months it has turned the tables on Holden's locally built big six. The Japanese carmaker sold 3856 Corollas versus 3891 Commodores last month.The Corolla led a modest small car sales spike last month as buyers continue to chase economy purchases over large sedans. Apart from small cars, the latest VFACTS industry sales figures for July reveal that sportscars and off-roaders also recorded positive sales gains.Small car sales were up 2.7 per cent in July compared to the same month last year. Sportscars increased 10.3 per cent while medium and luxury off-roaders were up 2.4 per cent and 7.2 per cent.The FCAI's sales figures show that 75,333 vehicles were sold last month, 8643 fewer than the same month last year. Year-to-date 530,556 new vehicles have been sold, down 15 per cent or 96,115 vehicles, compared to the same period last year.Toyota continues to dominate as sales leader. It has sold 110,897 vehicles so far this year to secure a dominate overall market share of 24 per cent. Toyota's lead is almost double that of its nearest rival, Holden with 66,418 sales with Ford in third spot with 54,239 sales.The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive, Andrew McKellar, said the Federal Goverment's business tax stimulus continued to have a positive knock-on effect on sales.Despite overall sales being down 10 per cent last month compared to the same month last year, business sales remained strong, he said. There was evidence of a flow-on from the very strong June sales result with strong demand for work vehicles, he said. "Particularly from buyers accessing the business tax break on new investments," he said.Some dealers are also reporting waiting lists of several months on certain models because of a backlog of orders on work utes and light commercial vehicles.Top Ten sellers (July) 1 Toyota Corolla 38912 Holden Commodore 38563 Ford Falcon 28344. Mazda3 27855 Toyota HiLux 25636 Hyundai Getz 21477 Mitsubishi Lancer 21298 Hyundai i30 20459 Holden Cruze 198210 Toyota Camry 1717Top Ten brands (July) 1 Toyota 16,6642 Holden 10,2663 Ford 77834 Hyundai 62265 Mazda 60246 Mitsubishi 41667 Nissan 37568 Subaru 28079 Honda 265710 Volkswagen 2361