Mazda Motor Corporation has announced the sales launch of the all-new Mazda Axela (known overseas as the new Mazda3) in the Japanese market. Mazda’s mainstay model has been fully redesigned and updated with a host of new features, including the ‘i-stop’ engine stop/start system. Sales commence today at all Mazda, Mazda Anfini and Autozam dealers nationwide. Manufacturer’s suggested retail prices (including sales tax) for the all-new Mazda Axela range from 1,660,000 to 2,678,000 yen. The target sales volume in the Japanese market is 2,000 units per month.
Since the Mazda Axela first debuted in October 2003 it has become a core model in Mazda’s lineup, selling over two million units worldwide and currently comprising over a third of its annual global sales. For the second generation Axela, the development team was determined to once again exceed customer expectations. As a result, the new model inherits and evolves Mazda’s highly acclaimed sporty performance and exterior styling. Additionally, it arrives with an outstanding interior with greater quality and functionality, and offers advanced environmental and safety features.
All 2.0-liter front-wheel-drive (FWD) models are equipped with i-stop, Mazda’s unique engine stop/start system, which uses combustion energy to restart the engine in just 0.35 seconds, about half the time of most other competing systems. The i-stop system also suppresses noise and vibration as the engine shuts down and restarts, ensuring that drivers experience a natural driving feel with no sense of discomfort. Prices for models with i-stop start from an affordable 1,890,000 yen (including sales tax).
The 2.0-liter FWD Axela with i-stop provides 15 percent better fuel economy than the previous model.*1 The 1.5-liter Axela models are newly equipped with a continuously variable transmission (CVT). This combination enables a sporty ride and top class fuel economy*2 of 18.4 kilometers per liter. All models in the Axela range qualify as Super-Ultra-Low Emission Vehicles (SU-LEV), achieving exhaust emissions that are at least 75 percent lower than the levels required by the Japanese government’s 2005 exhaust emissions standard. Additionally, six of the nine model grades qualify for Japan’s eco-car incentive program as well as tax reductions of 50 or 75 percent under the government’s eco-car tax reduction program.
Together with its superb environmental performance, the new Mazda Axela also boasts more spirited driving performance. Mazda’s engineers achieved notable weight reduction while efficiently increasing the vehicle’s body rigidity, and reworked the aerodynamics so that the new Axela provides enhanced handling and straight-line stability at high speeds. Drivers can enjoy substantially improved comfort and cabin quietness due to reduced road noise, engine vibration and wind noise.
The updated exterior design, which features a new version of Mazda’s hallmark five-point grille, carries forward the original model’s sporty impression and injects an added touch of dynamic and refined styling.
Main features of the Mazda Axela
1. Design: Bold and expressive with evolved emotional appeal
The design concept for the all-new Mazda Axela was “to carry forward the identity and evolve the expressiveness” of the Axela model. Progressing the dynamic and sporty impression established by the first generation model, the new Axela’s styling is boldly expressive and exciting.
Exterior
- A new front end was designed to highlight the distinctive character of the Mazda brand.
- The center-focused design of the front fascia, whereby front character lines converge in the center at the bottom of the five-point grille, emphasizes the vehicle’s dynamism.
- Body surfaces are richly expressive due to the chiseled lines on the bonnet and front fenders and the contoured side body panels.
- The design of the Axela Sport emphasizes its lively character and compact size. Bolder rear fenders and more expressive C-pillars contribute to the solid, sporty stance.
- The characteristic flowing coupe silhouette of the Axela Sedan is now more refined. The short, high deck style, inherited from the first generation model, emphasizes its tight proportions.
- The Mazdaspeed Axela boasts an exclusive bonnet scoop; front and rear aero bumpers; a large floating rear roof spoiler and outsized dual exhaust pipes; all of which reflect a premium feel and level of sportiness appropriate for Mazda’s flagship model.
- Seven exterior body colors are available, including three new colors: Celestial Blue Mica, Indigo Light Mica and Graphite Mica.
Interior
- The interior provides more refined design and functionality, with subtle detailing that significantly enhances the overall quality feel.
- The dashboard has a radial design that expands from the center to both sides, creating a feeling of roomy openness in the cabin. The cockpit layout was arranged to wrap around the driver and feel snug.
- The top surface of the instrument panel is made with soft-touch material molded as a single integrated piece. The parting lines between the center console and instrument panel are minimized with a simple design, and parts that are often touched, such as the door armrests, are made from a soft plastic. These touches add a sense of quality that is usually found on premium class vehicles.
- Two upholstery designs, both based on black fabric, are available for all Axela Sport and Axela Sedan models.
- Special half-leather seats are available for the Mazdaspeed Axela. Its interior has a bold black design, with red gradation on the seats, door trim, and decoration panel. Red stitching accentuates the seats, steering wheel, shift lever boot and center arm rests, reflecting the sporty yet refined quality.
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