2016 Mazda CX-3 Makes European Debut as a Diesel

Mazda has been on the upswing lately, so we were anxious to see the newest addition to their lineup at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show. That car is the all-new 2016 Mazda CX-3 subcompact crossover, which is already on sale in Mazda’s home market of Japan at the time of this writing.

The Mazda CX-3 made a good showing at Geneva despite sharing the stage with similar offers from other big-name automakers like Nissan, Ford and, to a lesser extent, Suzuki. What makes the Mazda CX-3 different from most of the other crossovers at Geneva though is that (A) it’s a production-ready vehicle and (B) it’s powered by a diesel engine.

In fact, even though diesel cars accounted for less than 3% of all new cars sold in Japan during 2014, Mazda’s CEO Masamichi Kogai told Reuters that they would only be offering the diesel version of the CX-3 in the domestic market. He apparently believes that Japan is positioned where Europe was a few years ago. Today, half of all new cars sold in Europe are diesel-powered, so it’s clear that at least some of today’s drivers somewhere are beginning to get curious about diesel.

The Japanese version of the Mazda CX-3 will be sold with a new 1.5L SkyActiv-D turbocharged four-cylinder engine… You may find it interesting that this is simply a smaller version of the 2.2L SkyActiv-D that Mazda hopes to adopt in the US Mazda6 as soon as it meets their own self-set emissions and performance standards.

To briefly look at the new 2016 Mazda CX-3’s aesthetics, it follows closely in the steps of their other Kodo designed models, with the Mazda CX-5 bearing the closest resemblance. No surprise there since the cars share the ‘CX’ moniker! It has a boldly aggressive snout with an overall lively stance, but it’s been refined and simplified to appeal to a wider audience.

New drivers will be able to choose from five trim levels of the new Mazda CX-3. Those trims are SE Nav, SE-L, SE-L Nav and Sport Nav. However, you’ll get a few standard features regardless of trim. For example, you’ll get 16-inch alloys, a 7-inch touchscreen interface, DAB radio and Bluetooth, standard airbags, cruise control, and several newer safety features like Tire Pressure Monitoring, Dynamic Stability Control and Hill Hold Assist… All regardless of trim.

A few noteworthy trim-specific features are:

• 18-inch diamond-cut gunmetal alloys with chrome body accents and LED headlights at the Sport Nav trim
• Lane Departure Warning & Smart City Brake for the SE-L and Sport Nav trims
• Rear-parking sensors for all models above and including the SE-L trim
• Bose surround sound, keyless entry and Mazda’s HUD system – Active Driving Display – in the Sport Nav trim

US sales of the new Mazda CX-3 are expected to start by summertime of this year, although we will only get access to the 2.0L petrol powertrain. Sales in Europe will likely start at a similar time, complete with the diesel option that Mazda is currently offering in Japan.