You’ve already seen the teaser photos of the Mazda 3 saloon, then the full story on the 3 sedan and of course the first pictures of the Euro-spec Mazda 3 hatchback. Time, then for the full official details and engineering story of Mazda’s Focus rival.

Talk about rinsing out the launch of a new car…

Yes, welcome to the PR stage-managed launch process typical in 2008. Today Mazda goes public at the Bologna show with its new 3, so at last we see the full engine details and more info on the company’s biggest-selling car.

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The Mazda3 hatchback will be unveiled next week at the Bologna Motor Show, and Mazda has released five photos to help get everyone excited. The Euro backdrop means that the 5-door’s engine lineup will include a 2.2L turbodiesel that’s guaranteed to keep the EU carbon nannies placated. Up front, it wears the same moderately unnerving perma-smile as its sedan brother. Look for more info next week, and feel free to start mentally transforming it into the next Mazdaspeed3. We have.

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Mazda has officially unveiled its new 3 four-door saloon at the LA Auto Show today, revealing the car in full and releasing more technical details. A five-door hatchback (favoured in Europe) will be shown at the Bologna motor show in December 2008, and form the basis of a hot MPS model.

The current 3 is Mazda’s best-selling vehicle, accounting for one third of the Japanese manufacturer’s sales (and a total of 1.8 million units over the past five years). The hope is that the latest 3 will do even better.

So what’s new about the Mazda 3?

Mazda clams its new Mk2 3 is fully re-engineered and completely redesigned, with input from Japan, Europe and the US. This is a proper ‘world car’.

The design is an evolutionary step rather than anything all-new, with the front tweaked to copy the five-point grille found on the facelifted MX-5 . The nose also features two vertical air intakes placed out on the edges of the car, designed to enhance the 3’s width, while a crease runs down the bonnet and reappears on the boot. Overall the design is smart, but it’s hardly the ‘Nagare flow’ concept car-inspired looks we were hoping for.

And inside?

Mazda claims the 3’s interior is ‘sporty yet highly refined’. So that means a sweeping dash, a large instrument cluster and key controls placed at the same level as the steering wheel and gear stick. It’s part of a design apparently based on Mazda’s Human Machine Interface concept.

New tech for the Mazda 3 includes an Adaptive Front Lighting System with self-levelling bi-xenon headlamps and three-position electric memory seats. These seats automatically move into place depending on which key opens the car.

Audio and air-con controls brighten to acknowledge that you’ve pushed or prodded them, while a BOSE sound system, Bluetooth, MP3 connectivity, keyless entry and go, plus rain-sensing wipers and heated seats are on the options list.

This is Mazda’s new 2009 MX-5 – and in a world exclusive, CAR has driven the facelifted MX-5 seven months ahead of its UK debut to bring you the first road test of what is still the world’s most popular sports car. The news is all good…

The facelifted Mazda MX-5 looks pretty much the same. What’s new?

Visually, the roadster’s petite styling has been given a small but useful dose of aggression by that new five-point lower air intake, which aligns the MX-5 with Mazda’s recent 2, 6 and current RX-8. Those rakish front foglamp housings and new bumper also beef up the new MX-5′s visage, as do the more prominent side-skirts.

At the rear there’s a new bumper and more prominent taillights. The individual changes may be minor but collectively they effectively update Moray Callum’s original design with an added dash of brio.

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Mazda has confirmed the time and place for the unveiling of its all-new 2010 Mazda3: November 19th at the LA Auto Show. In anticipation of the car’s public debut, the Japanese automaker released these three images of the remodeled 3 sedan that reveal the car’s new design. While the new 3 retains a similar shape as the current model with a high beltline and rear decklid, the new car sports a much more expressive face with a “smile” grille positioned low up front that’s flanked by vertical air intake/fog light combos. The front fenders, likewise, are more distinct from the elevated hood and roll nicely back into the car’s forward canted character line. Out back are bigger taillights embedded in what appears to be a larger trunk above dual exhaust tips. The overall shape is a logical evolution of the current car that combines current Mazda design elements already found on the RX-8, Mazda6 and recently refreshed MX-5. Mazda also tells us that the 3 sedan will carry over its 2.0L four-cylinder, but be joined by a larger 2.5L engine to replace the current car’s 2.3L. As for the Mazda3 five-door hatchback, we’ll have to wait until some time after the LA Auto Show for that, though we’re hoping the new Mazdaspeed3 is not far behind.

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