Think you've been well and truly shot down in flames Steve... :)

It may be that Clarkson was carried away with his delight for this new model and yes Mazda do produce an EV and hybrid , but the vast percentage of Mazda 3 s they sell around the world will be with this state of the art lean burn simple petrol engine.

He makes the point that in many parts of the world there is no point in lugging around a half hundredweight of batteries that can’t be recharged within a hundred miles .

But why overcomplicate matters like Honda with their Jazz and Civic , likewise Nissan with their epower where a petrol engine charges a battery which then drives the electric motors coupled to the wheels . Brings back memories of the Deltic powered locomotives of the seventies which were short lived .

Mazda remained a niche brand in UK. They don't sell many cars and not many people are even aware that they exist.

Also it surprises me why they offer 6 years warranty in Ireland but only 3 years in UK.

They were very much on the way up 20+ years ago when the first gen 3 and 6 sold well and were widely well-regarded for their excellent handling, helped by their tie-up with Ford no doubt, plus the MX-5 at the height of its popularity with its 2nd gen version.

Unfortunately for them, I was less impressed with the 2nd gen version of both those cars (on the styling side), plus they didn't really make much in the way of engine improvements (mostly reducing the CO2 emissions / VED groupings by remapping the engines to reduce performance) until the 3rd gen cars with their Skyactiv-G engines.

That they seemingly had significant reliability problems with their car diesel engines (most of which were shared with Ford, PSA and Volvo at the time) and RX-8 dented their reputation significantly in my view, as did the high variability of the post-sales support from dealerships and Mazda UK.

By then the above and the recessionary period seemed to permanently hit their sales figures, plus they didn't seem willing or able to compete with the bigger makes in terms of performance capability or range of models on offer, at least in Europe.

The current crop of Mazdas are generally lovely to look at (inside and out), decent to drive (if not exactly fast) and comfortable, for the most part. Not always the most practical, and from a good few accounts, having some electrical issues with the 3 and CX-30, which are heavily related cars.

They certain tick many boxes for my needs, especially the CX-30, whilst not as stylish as the 3, is far more practical with the combination of a decent sized (430L) boot and a big hatch opening. That they also still use a TV auto box that is smooth, reliable and fine on the efficiency front also helps. If only they could improve that reliability and the post-sales experience...

It certainly also would be nice to get that longer warranty!

Edited by Engineer Andy on 22/04/2024 at 18:55