2004 Mazda Rx-8 Shinka Coupe 4-door 1.3l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Mazda begins building Mazda3 in Mexico for US

With fluctuations in international currencies and rising shipping costs to take into account, foreign automakers can't get away with building cars overseas and selling them in North America as easily as they used to. Particularly with inexpensive mainstream models. And given the benefits of cheaper labor and free trade under NAFTA, many have opted to assemble their cars for the North American market in Mexico. That's why the likes of Toyota, Mercedes and BMW have all opened plants in Mexico. And now Mazda has followed suit.
Ground was initially broken for Mazda de Mexico Vehicle Operations at Salamanca in the state of Gunajuato back in 2011, but production has just now gotten under way. The first vehicle to roll off the line? A Mazda3 sedan destined for the United States. Soon, the plant will begin production of the next Mazda2 as well, selling it alongside its larger counterpart across the Americas and in Europe as production expands to 230,000 units annually. For more information, see the official press release below.

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.

Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Nissan recall 3.4 million vehicles for faulty airbags

Most vehicle recalls that take place these days are a result of some problem that happens during the manufacturing process by the automaker, but as we see here, parts suppliers can also factor in to problematic safety issues. Automotive News is reporting that a total of 3.4 million vehicles produced by Japanese automakers between 2000 and 2004 are being recalled globally due to faulty airbags produced by an outside supplier, Takata Corp.
According to the report, vehicles from Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Mazda are being recalled because of passenger front airbags that do not inflate properly. Globally, Toyota is said to be recalling around 1.73 million cars including 510,000 in the US composed of Toyota Corolla, Matrix, Sequoia and Tundra as well as the Lexus SC430 for the 2001 through 2003 model years; this is the second time this year the 2003 Corolla and Matrix have been recalled for an airbag problem. Honda is recalling 1.14 million models, Nissan another 480,000 and Mazda 45,463. The article says that Takata supplied faulty airbags to non-Japanese automakers, but it did not specify which ones.
Honda and Toyota have released information on their own websites about the recall, while Nissan and Mazda have not yet commented. Read official press releases from Honda and Toyota, below, and look for updates as we have word from the others.