NEW YORK -- Mazda Motor Corp.'s next-generation Mazda3, equipped with its full set of technologies developed to reduce weight and enhance fuel efficiency, will top the compact segment in fuel economy when it goes on sale in the United States in September, the automaker said today.
The 2014 Mazda3, unveiled here, will be sold in the United States with a 155-hp 2.0-liter or an optional 184-hp 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine from Mazda's Skyactiv portfolio.
Tim Barnes, Mazda's director of product planning for the U.S. market, declined to disclose the car's estimated EPA rating today but said the third-generation Mazda3 would have "best in class" fuel economy compared with competing compact cars that include the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra and Ford Focus.
Such a rating would put the 2014 Mazda3's EPA highway fuel economy in the low- to mid-40 mpg range.
Jim O'Sullivan, CEO of Mazda North American Operations, said Mazda's 2.2-liter Skyactiv diesel engine eventually may be added to the Mazda3 lineup. Mazda will consider the addition after evaluating demand for the diesel-powered Mazda6 mid-sized sedan that goes on sale this year, O'Sullivan said,