Year-End Deal Reality Check: Mazda

The end of the year means dealers are trying to move old product to make room for next year’s new cars, trucks and SUVs; it also means more deals for new-car shoppers. According to Mazda, ‘Tis the Season of Saving. The automaker’s annual year-end sale program offers well-qualified shoppers 0% financing and no payments for 90 days on select 2011 and 2012 Mazda vehicles.

Model-year 2011 vehicles that qualify include the Mazda2, Mazda3 hatchback and sedan, Mazda6, CX-7 and CX-9. Also eligible are 2012 versions of the Mazda2, Mazda5, Mazda6 and CX-9. For example, qualified shoppers can purchase the redesigned-for-2012 Mazda5 small minivan for $19,345 and get 0% financing for 60 months and forgo payments for 90 days.

The sale ends Jan. 3.

2012 Mazda2 Fuel Economy Improves

We’ve already outlined some of the major changes coming to Mazda’s lineup for the 2012 model year, including the refreshed Mazda3 and the discontinuation of the Mazda RX-8 and Tribute. Most other models are carryovers, with one minor exception.

When it goes on sale, the 2012 Mazda2 with an automatic transmission will see its fuel economy improve 1 mpg in city and highway driving, to 28/34 mpg city/highway and 30 mpg combined. Fuel economy for the Mazda2 with a manual transmission remains the same at 29/35 mpg and 32 mpg combined. 

There's no word yet on pricing or a release date for the updated 2012 Mazda2.

What's the Most Affordable New Car?

Used-car prices are going up, and gas prices remain high.

That makes new small cars with good mileage even more attractive to car shoppers. However, low starting prices under $15,000 don’t really translate to the transaction price most buyers face when you include equipment that’s almost a prerequisite today, such as an automatic transmission and power windows.

Over the 2011 and 2012 model years, more than a dozen new small cars will, or have been, released. They range from the traditional — like the Ford Fiesta and Hyundai Accent — to the quirky Fiat 500.

We decided to add another factor into this comparison that we haven’t included in the others: the cost of gas. For each model, we also included a year’s worth of gas to the total cost of the car — 15,000 miles’ worth of traveling in a mix of city and highway at $3.96 per gallon.

Reader Review of the Week: 2011 Mazda2

“Gabagooo” from Saver, Pa., recently bought a new Mazda2 to be used primarily for commuting. Overall, the reader thinks the car is a great value with superb fuel efficiency. Despite the meager 100-horsepower rating, Gabagoo believes the Mazda2 has adequate performance. To find out more, continue reading below. Once you’re done, you can submit your own car review here.

Mazda2 Earns Lower Crash Scores Than Ford Fiesta

There’s often a perception that if a car is based on the same platform as another, they’re pretty much identical save for the design, interior and often the powertrains. Well, that automotive myth has never been more clearly busted (can we legally use that phrase?) than with the recent crash testing of the new 2011 Mazda2 subcompact.
 
The Mazda2 shares a platform with Ford’s Fiesta, but both companies have said the vehicles don’t actually share all that much in common. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently released its crash-test results of the Mazda2, and it earned the top score of Good in frontal and roof-strength tests but received the second-best rating of Acceptable in side and rear crash tests. The Ford Fiesta earned top scores in all the tests and is the only car of its size currently listed as a Top Safety Pick by IIHS.
 
The Fiesta sedan has been tested by the federal government, and it received an overall score of four stars. The government has not tested the Mazda2 yet.
 
The Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris also scored Good in frontal, side and rear crash tests but earned an Acceptable score in roof strength.

40 mpg Ford Fiesta, Other Small Cars Flounder

Automakers quickly turned to small cars when gas hit $4 a gallon in 2008. Folks everywhere downsized, trading in giant SUVs for traditional compacts and the latest subcompacts, like the Toyota Yaris. The trend prompted Ford to bring its best global small car to the U.S., the Ford Fiesta, while it looked to beef up its compact, the Focus, to be a more premium offering. This trend of subcompact and larger compact is being seen across the industry.

The Fiesta has been on sale for a few months with a full inventory on most lots. (There are more than 9,000 in Cars.com’s national inventory.) However, the Fiesta isn’t setting the sales world on fire, and the rest of the segment isn’t, either.

2011 Mazda2 Video

Launched internationally in 2007, the Mazda2 is finally released stateside as a 2011 model. Typically, a subcompact car such as this can have unpleasant ride and handling and not a lot of room for passengers or cargo, but the Mazda2 surprises in both respects, according to Cars.com editor Bill Jackson. Watch as Bill takes as through the pros and cons of both the automatic- and manual-transmission models.

2011|Mazda|Mazda2

Win a 2011 Mazda2 Via Foursquare

Are you one of the millions of people who have succumbed to Foursquare, the latest social networking craze? Well, your addiction to fastidiously documenting your every location may bear more than just a mayorship: You may be eligible to win a new car from Mazda.

Mazda is giving away a new 2011 Mazda2 on Foursquare via an "Amazing Race"-style digital scavenger hunt.

To play you’ll need a Foursquare account, obviously, and will need to follow Mazda on it. Then you’ll have to check in to the relevant locations and earn two of Mazda’s three badges. The three badges include Mazda2 Button Masher (gaming competitions and retailers), Mazda2 Beat Junkie (concerts and music spots) and Mazda2 Style Guru (nightlife haunts, boutiques and fashion events).

DriverVille, a Mazda2 Facebook Game

If you use Facebook — and we know you do — then you’re likely familiar with FarmVille, the popular social media game that sends alerts to all your friends about digital crops and such. We love getting those updates.
 
If you like cars more than crops, Mazda’s new DriverVille will fill that need to tell all your friends that you’re wasting time online. The promotional game launched today to tell the world about the new Mazda2. There are a series of tasks, and theoretically the game allows you to race your friends — at least after they’ve finished enough tasks to get a car of their own.
 
I made it through about 20 minutes before giving up and starting this blog post. Let’s hope other Facebook denizens will have a longer attention span.
 
The Mazda2 is just reaching dealers now. 

More on the Mazda2

New Mazdas to Come With Brake Override

As Congress considers whether to mandate brake override systems for all vehicles, Mazda will go ahead and take action on its own, beginning with the 2011 Mazda2, which hits the market in July.

The software lets the brakes override the accelerator by cutting power to the engine if the brake pedal is depressed. All new Mazda vehicles will be equipped with the system by the end of next year.

The move comes after recent concerns sparked by Toyota’s 8.5 million-vehicle recall due to unintended acceleration. Toyota has said it will include a brake override system in all vehicles by next year.

While Mazda has no reported issues of sudden acceleration, consumers are now very aware of the issue. Other automakers may add the system out of PR-related concerns before Congress even gets around to legislating the issue.

Mazda to Add Brake-Shift Override Systems (Detroit News)