WITH one in every three cars bought in the UK being in the super-mini category Mazda had to develop a car to replace the Mazda121 and Demio that would challenge the class leaders.

With the new brand design, high levels of functionality and intelligent technology, the compact Mazda2 follows the success of the Mazda6. It is available with four engine options, 1.25, 1.4, 1.6 petrol and 1.4 diesel with four specification levels: S, TS, TS2 and Sport. The Mazda2 goes on sale in the UK at the end of March.

Lewis Booth, President of Mazda Motor Corporation: “The Mazda2 embodies every aspect of our new product philosophy. Exactly like the Mazda6, it also represents the zoom-zoom feeling that is the new spirit of our brand.’’

The brand-typical five-point grille on the Mazda2 mirrors the Mazda6. Further family resemblance is evident in the striking contours of the bonnet, the integrated headlights with their dynamic design, and the sporty front spoiler with large air intakes.

Seen from the side, Mazda2’s belt line rising towards the back of the car, minimal body overhangs, and restrained sill moulding provide an appealing and confident appearance.

The original rear end design of the car is dominated by the hatch, which reaches down low into the bumper area and the elegant styling of its rear light clusters, which wrap around into the side panels.

Despite its compact exterior design, Mazda2’s inviting interior is spacious.

There is sufficient room for five adults to ride in comfort, due in part to a very generous head and shoulder room.

The driver’s seat is adjustable horizontally and in height (210 mm and 38 mm respectively) so that men and women of every body size can find just the right driving position.

Newly developed, anatomically correct seat frames provide all passengers with fatigue-free seating on long trips.

A variety of storage compartments provide room for smaller items. For larger items, Mazda2 possesses a luggage compartment that is unusually large for this class. With the back seats folded down, Mazda2 has an expanded load capacity of 1,044 litres with a completely flat floor.

Mazda2’s extremely low load sill, combined with its large wide-opening hatch, ensures easy loading and unloading.

The engine line-up available for the new Mazda2 meets all power output requirements in this class. Three modern, 16-valve, double overhead camshaft petrol engines - a 1.25-litre, a 1.4-litre and a 1.6-litre are available together with a second-generation common-rail 1.4-litre MZ CD diesel engine.

These engines guarantee spirited driving fun, combined with low fuel consumption and emissions.

As an alternative to the precise and easy-to-shift manual five-speed transmission available for all four engines, the 1.4-litre petrol and the common-rail diesel engines are also available with an automatic shift manual (ASM) transmission, which combines the advantages of an automatic transmission with the flexibility and low fuel consumption of a manual transmission.