Car news, 18 December ’24: Mazda 2 and CX-3 range to be consolidated for 2025, pricing announced for all-electric Mini hatch and Aceman JCW

Back in 2017, I helped my best friend with choosing his very first brand-new car. He landed on the Mazda 2. He was after something safe, practical and The Mazda 2 has recently seen an update, but does the flagship GT still hold the same levels of charm of days gone by?

Almost a decade ago, I found myself piloting the then brand-new Mazda CX-3 baby SUV. Straight away I declared it’d sell like cold beer at a hot footie Rapidly approaching its tenth birthday and with no confirmed replacement, is Mazda’s best-selling CX-3 city SUV still worth considering?

There’s life in the old Mazda 2 dog yet, as the now nine-year-old model embraces another facelift. And for that, we must be grateful. In its current Price rises and only minor changes for the facelifted Mazda 2 city car, but clever aesthetic touches, fun drive experience and the right equipment keep this model fresh.

Should you buy a 2020 Mazda 2? Find out in our expert review and video, including Australian price, handling, and safety.

Read or watch our expert review of the 2019 Mazda CX-3 in Akari LE trim, including interior, handling, comfort, value for money and servicing.

Read Jake Williams' expert review of the 2019 Mazda CX-3 range, including value for money, comfort, handling, prices, petrol and diesel engines.

Read Jake Williams' expert review of the 2018 Mazda CX-3 Maxx here. Mazda's small SUV sells strongly in Australia and Chasing Cars has experienced it.

Australia's best-selling small-SUV has come in for an update: enter the 2017 Mazda CX-3, which packs both petrol and diesel, FWD and AWD options.

A comprehensive mid-life update to the 2017 Mazda 2 has made one of our favourite hatches even better value, and even better to drive. See what's changed!

It’s a study in sensibleness, the 2026 Mazda CX-5 Evolve. That's hardly a sexy opening statement to send you sprinting to a Mazda dealer, but in today's We live with the expected sales star of the new-generation Mazda CX-5 line-up, but is the $43K Evolve grade simply too spartan for 2026 buyers?

There’s plenty to like about this new-generation Mazda 6e – the lower case ‘e’ signifying its electric propulsion. It might not be a Mazda in the truest The brand’s first proper EV gets birthed from a Chinese joint-venture, bringing refined dynamics, rear-drive balance and strong value, but also some jarring flaws

The new-generation Mazda CX-5 is utterly remarkable. Not because it blazes new design trails, offers a revolutionary drivetrain or is bubbling over with New-generation Toyota RAV4 rival eschews hybrid power while entering at an appealing sub-$40,000 price. Has Mazda done enough?

The future of the Mazda MX-5 is not clear. New regulations relating to both emissions and safety are making it commercially tough for carmakers to justify The Mazda MX-5 has always had its flaws, but the late, great ‘ND3’ revision to the open-top Japanese sports car makes the fourth gen more charming than ever.

Chasing Cars has had numerous critical swings at Mazda’s CX-30 since the nameplate arrived locally in 2020, wedging itself between the small CX-3 and Six years on one of Mazda’s semi-premium debutants, the CX-30, continues its steady course in local showrooms. But does it keep in step with the times?

Just over three years after the ‘premium’ CX-60 arrived in Mazda’s Australian showrooms, followed by two rounds of suspension revisions – the most recent In an attempt to offers buyers more choice, Mazda has introduced a fourth CX-60 powertrain – a 2.5-litre four-cylinder with rear-wheel drive, saving $6000.

Mazda wants a bite of the lucrative tradie and fleet market pie. That’s why we were presented with a hard hat and high vis vest at the 2026 BT-50 Is the new 2.2L engine a better proposition compared to the phased out 1.9L unit, or is the proven 3.0L still the only one to buy?

Mazda will produce unique white-on-red special editions of its 2, 3, 6, MX-5, CX-3, CX-30, CX-5, CX-8 and CX-9 for 2020.

Mazda’s small car range is ageing, with the Mazda 2 light car (2014) and CX-3 light SUV (2015) now a decade old. With no hybrid or electric power, these Mazda previews small car design direction, but will the Vision-X Compact really be a CX-3 and 2 successor?

As Mazda launches a new generation CX-5 medium SUV, the lack of hybrid power range-wide has been eyebrow-raising. This is the Japanese brand’s Mazda Australia promising its awaited in-house developed hybrid system won’t dilute the brand’s ‘jinba ittai’ fun-to-drive philosophy

Omoda-Jaecoo has priced its petrol-powered J5 small SUV from $25,990 driveaway ahead of its imminent May debut. The internal-combustion (ICE) J5 range Essentially an upmarket Chery Tiggo 4, the Jaecoo J5 gains a turbocharged petrol option to serve alongside its existing electric offering

Jaecoo has priced its new premium five-seat SUV, with a June launch date locked in by the Chery sub-brand. The 2025 Jaecoo J8 continues to push the brands

We take a look at the cheapest new cars available on the Australian market and how much they will cost to run.

Discover Australia's best selling cars at Chasing Cars. In September 2015, the overall new car market continued to grow, with the Hyundai i30 placing first in overall sales.

Plucky Japanese brand Mazda hedged a sizeable bet on its Large Product Architecture which underpins ‘premium’ products such as the CX-60, CX-70, CX-80 and Mazda is going on a product offensive after lukewarm Large Product Architecture reception to drive volume in key segments

The new Mazda 2 has arrived in Australia, freshly facelifted and with a mildly updated interior. Some things are unchanged in the latest update, such as Mazda’s much-loved small car is back and better than ever. We explore the different grades, prices and what you get for your dough

As the Mazda 2 receives a fresh facelift for 2023, there’s still no word about an all-new version to replace this current, ageing generation. No news is Now approaching a decade old, the current generation Mazda 2 may be the last of its kind and another fall guy in the dwindling city car segment

Mazda has had a cull in its CX-3 small SUV range, going from a total of 13 variants to just five for 2023. Other big news is that both all-wheel The CX-3 small SUV lineup is going to look quite a bit different from now on and will start from $26,800 before on-road costs

The most affordable vehicle in Mazda’s range has been given an updated interior and exterior – plus a small price increase to match

Mazda will add the CX-3 Maxx Sport LE and 100th Anniversary edition to the line up in 2021. With more features now standard across the range

Mazda has updated the medium-size CX-5 SUV for 2020 with extra off-road cred and noise suppression. Thankfully, pricing remains close to last year.

Mazda is set to debut a new SUV at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, though the company is tight-lipped on what it could be. Many are saying a new CX-3 or CX-4.

Mazda Australia has added a new high specification model to its 2019 CX-3 lineup called the Akari LE, which adds Nappa leather upholstery and bright wheels.