Mazda debuts new Mazda3 compact as GM and Ford exit small car market

Mazda 3 Sedan and
hatchback.
Mazda

• Mazda introduced the new 2019
  Mazda3 at the 2018 LA Auto Show on
  Wednesday.
• The Mazda3 will be available as both a sedan and a
  hatchback.
• The Mazda3 is available with five different
  four-cylinder engines including a diesel and mild
  hybrid. 
• The new Mazda3 goes on sales in early
  2019. 

Mazda introduced the new 2019 Mazda3 at the 2018 LA Auto Show on
Wednesday. Even as Ford and General Motors announced their
plans to exit the passenger car market, Mazda has unveiled one of
the most striking and innovate compact cars in recent
memory. 

The fourth generation Mazda3, which is expected to go on sale in
early 2019, will be available as both a sedan and four-door
hatchback. 

It’s the latest in a long line of modern compact Mazdas that date
back to the 323 hatchback and sedan. (The Mazda 323 sedan sold as
the Protege in the US.)

Mazda

Aesthetically, the Mazda3 represents the latest development in
the Hiroshima, Japan-based automakers striking Kodo design
language. The Mazda3 hatchback, in particular, is a direct
descendant of the company’s well-received Kai concept car that
made the rounds at international auto shows last year. 

Power for the Mazda3 comes from a quintet of four-cylinder
engines ranging from 1.5 liters in displacement to 2.5 liters.
Mazda is pushing its fuel-saving SkyActiv technology to new
levels with a long-awaited 1.8-liter diesel and a mild
hybrid. 

Mazda

Mazda has not revealed the exact power output of any of the
engines. 

The Mazda3 will be available with a choice of a six-speed manual
and a six-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel-drive is also
available.

Read more: Honda just unveiled a new
all-American SUV to take on Ford, Nissan, and Chevy.

The new Mazda3 comes during a period of contraction for the
compact car segment. Through October, compact car sales are down
13.8% in the US. The Mazda3 is down even more at 14.3%. On
Monday, GM announced that it plans to kill of the Cruze compact
in 2019.

Hopefully, the innovative and striking 2019 Mazda3 will inject
some much need lift into the segment.  Official pricing is
not yet available. 

Mazda