Mazda are, I think slowly learning their lesson on rust-proofing, with each generation of their models being a decent improvement on that score from the previous one.
I would also point out that - admitedly it's an anecdotal one from both my own personal experience owning a late 2005-build Mazda3 and of others, both here and on the UK Mazda3 owners' forum site - more of the problems appear to be with cars made in the first year after the model was changed, which means they do make improvements to both the design and manufacturing process as they go.
Mine has a few small rust spots in the most common place - the wheel arches, but otherwise is fine aside from a couple of bonnet stone chips*, which themselves have not go that bad despite being several years old. My dealership has even commented at how well the underbody area has faired generally. Never had even an advisory on an MOT for rust related issues.
Most the gen-3 (2014-19) rust issues I read appeared to pop up in the early cars, with very few reported on the owners' forum generally and even fewer for 2015+ build examples. Hopefully they have now resolved the 'problems'.
* thin car panelling and paint jobs are a common theme thes days, not just for certain Oriental makes, because it's an easy way for them to save weight. Nice work for the likes of Chips Away & Co though.
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