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Wards names its 2015 10 Best Interiors list

Wards Automotive has named the winners of its 10 Best Interior awards, covering a wide but affordable array of vehicles. Where last year's list contained two six-figure vehicles, including the $372,800 Rolls-Royce Wraith, this year's is, well, a whole lot more reasonable. The publication lists the Mercedes-Benz C400 at $65,000 (which seems off), making it the most expensive vehicle here. That said, we'd argue that the entire C-Class line deserves to make this year's list, owing to its varied and high-quality selection of materials. The other vehicle to break the $60,000 mark, meanwhile, is the $60,675 Ford F-150 King Ranch, which has 327,000 pounds of leather lining its interior. Only one other German car, the BMW i3, and one other pickup truck, the GMC Canyon, managed to make this year's list. Here's the full list of this year's winners: 2014 BMW i3 ($52,550) 2015 Chrysler 300C Platinum ($51,175) 2015 Ford F-150 King Ranch ($60,675) 2015 GMC Canyon SLT ($40,465) 2015 Honda Fit EX-L ($21,590) 2015 Jeep Renegade Limited ($33,205) 2015 Kia Sedona SXL ($43,295) 2016 Mazda6 Grand Touring ($33,395) 2015 Mercedes C400 ($65,000) 2015 Nissan Murano SL ($41,905) See what we mean about the mainstream vehicles? Not only is there a distinct lack of luxury brands, it's the price of some of the vehicles that surprise. The Honda Fit, Jeep Renegade and Mazda6 are very reasonably priced, especially when you compare Wards price with the starting price. The Renegade Limited starts at less than $25,000, the Mazda at less than $22K and the Fit at under $16,000. Head over to Wards for a more detailed explanation of why each vehicle won. Featured Gallery 2015 Ward's Automotive 10 Best Interiors View 10 Photos News Source: Wards Automotive BMW Chrysler Ford GMC Honda Jeep Kia Mazda Mercedes-Benz Nissan Truck Crossover Hatchback Sedan nissan murano gmc canyon Interior jeep renegade WardsAuto kia sedona wards 10 best interiors mercedes c400

Mazda6 diesel is coming, too, Mazda promises (again)

As we noted our piece earlier today about the CX-5 diesel, we've been waiting for Mazda to bring its Skyactiv-D engines to market for years. Tripped up by an emissions certification nightmare that caused delays and resulted in lackluster power and fuel economy numbers, they're late to the party. In the CX-5 diesel, it's also a questionable proposition at almost $4,000 more than the much more powerful CX-5 Turbo. But today, Mazda's U.S. president confirmed to Autoblog that the diesel engine would make its way into the 6. Like the CX-5, it'll only be offered with all-wheel drive and only on the top Signature trim level. Unlike the CX-5 diesel, which goes on sale in July, we don't know when the Skyactiv-D-powered 6 will go on sale. But it seems like later this year is a good bet. How much longer can Mazda wait, really, once the CX-5 diesel is on sale? The diesel Mazda6 will use the same 2.2-liter engine as the CX-5. It'll probably offer the same power figures – 168 horsepower at 4,000 rpm and 290 pound-feet of torque from a low 2,000 rpm, with a 5,500-rpm redline. The fuel economy bonus for choosing a diesel over the turbocharged gas engine should roughly parallel the difference in the CX-5: about 5 mpg in the city and 3 mph on the highway. That said, we don't know the 6's EPA fuel economy numbers yet. We expect the price premium to roughly parallel the CX-5 as well, so the diesel will likely be several thousand dollars more than the gas turbo engine in the same Signature trim. These are educated guesses, of course, and when we have firmer numbers or solid estimates from Mazda we'll let you know.

2015 Mazda3 shows its shape

Mazda's new Kodo design language is set to quickly spread across the automaker's entire lineup, judging by these spy shots of the next-generation Mazda3 that show some very familiar styling cues. No matter, we're impressed with what Mazda has done on the CX-5 crossover and Mazda6 sedan in terms of design, and we're happy to see the C-segment hatchback ditching the smile-for-a-mile Nagare design.
It's unclear what sort of architecture is found below the new Mazda3 - our spy shooters suggest that the car could simply be using a heavily massaged version of the Ford C1 platform found under the current car. Our best guess is that it's actually a reworked version of the platform used in the CX-5 crossover, however, chocked full of weight-saving Skyactiv technologies. After all, the CX-5 plays in the compact CUV segment, and those vehicles are commonly based on C-segment platforms. And besides, there's probably some economic savings at work with the new chassis - both in terms of fuel efficiency and economies of scale. Still, no one is totally certain what lies under all that black-and-white paper at the moment.
The new Mazda3 is targeted to arrive for the 2015 model year, meaning we could see a final production car debut as early as this year. We expect the hatch you see here to debut along with a traditional four-door sedan, and unless we hear otherwise, we don't doubt that a Mazdaspeed version will be far behind.