Mazda gained’t discard the CX-3 nameplate that has proved enduringly well-liked in Australia, with a second era set to enter manufacturing subsequent yr.
The Japanese automaker has confirmed in a monetary outcomes presentation that the “next-generation CX-3 (compact SUV)” will enter manufacturing subsequent yr on the AutoAlliance Thailand plant.
This facility is a part of a three way partnership with Ford, and produces numerous automobiles together with the present Mazda CX-3.
Mazda goals to “steadily seize the quantity phase” with the brand new mannequin.
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It previewed what seems to be the brand new CX-3 in sketches launched in 2025, when it introduced it was investing 5 billion Baht (A$233.8 million) in its Thai operations to provide electrified small SUVs.
This probably means the subsequent CX-3 will supply some sort of mild-hybrid or hybrid powertrain, with Mazda having dedicated to launch 4 new hybrids this decade, beginning with the CX-5 in 2027.
“The automobiles to be produced will probably be excessive efficiency compact SUVs that meet worldwide requirements, each by way of environmental friendliness and hybrid know-how,” Mazda CEO Masahiro Moro mentioned on the time.
The sketches present a small, rounded SUV with comparable headlights to the brand new CX-5, plus small, rounded tail-lights and what seems to be Mazda lettering throughout the tailgate.
Subsequently on the 2025 Tokyo motor present, Mazda revealed the very similar-looking Imaginative and prescient X-Compact, which appeared to preview a Mazda 2 successor.
The present CX-3 stays an enormous vendor in Australia. With 15,429 deliveries final yr, it comfortably outsold the Toyota Yaris Cross – regardless of being down 16.4 per cent on its 2024 tally – to retain the title of best-selling mild SUV in Australia. It was additionally Mazda’s second-best-seller after the CX-5.
Nonetheless, the CX-3 has been withdrawn from many main markets. It was discontinued in Europe and the US in 2021, and manufacturing for the Japanese market resulted in February this yr.
It has, nonetheless, lived on in Southeast Asia and Mexico, the place it’s additionally constructed.
Mazda Australia has dominated out withdrawing the CX-3 from this market anytime quickly.
“There are some articles floating round that [Mazda 2 and CX-3] are coming to an finish, and I can verify Mazda 2 and CX-3 will probably be in our portfolio this yr, they’ll be in our portfolio subsequent yr, and it’s an necessary phase for us,” Mazda Australia managing director Vinesh Bhindi informed CarExpert earlier this yr.
“At some stage there might be replacements, however proper right here proper now these two vehicles, these two nameplates, are right here to remain in our portfolio as a result of they may adjust to [Australian Design Rules], they may proceed to be manufactured in our Thailand facility, and due to this fact we now have entry to [them].”
Mazda’s international normal supervisor for advertising and gross sales, Manabu Osuga, wouldn’t verify whether or not each the present CX-3 and Mazda 2 – which entered manufacturing in 2014 – will probably be changed.
“Whether or not we go along with making the scale [of the new vehicle] Mazda 2 equal or Mazda 3 equal, or we prioritise the worth protection, that’s the dialogue we’re having [at a global level],” mentioned Osuga-san.
“So [I’m] not essentially naming the successor of the Mazda 2 or CX-3, [but] our dedication is we’ll cowl the client base and shoppers’ wants within the particular person market.”
