2008 World Car of the Year winners announced

Today, the 2008 World Car of the Year awards winners were announced. The cars were nominated for four categories, Overall Car of the Year, World Design of the Year, World Performance Car and World Green Car and the winners were voted by 47 journalists from 24 countries throughout the world.

The winner of the Overall Car of the Year award was the Mazda2, followed by the new Ford Mondeo and the Mercedes Benz C Class. The Mazda2 also came in second at the World Design of the Year, where the winner was the Audi R8 and the third place went to the Volvo C30. The Audi R8 also won in the World Performance Car section, followed by the Audi S5 Coupe and the new BMW M3. The fourth award, for the World Green Car was won by the BMW 118d with Efficient Dynamics followed by the SmartForTwo cdi and the Volkswagen Passat 1.9 TDI BlueMotion.

So, we can say that the big winners were the Audi R8, with two awards, and the Mazda2, which won the main category and also came in second at another. The winners of the second and third place in each category are ok, though we don’t really dig the Volvo C30 as a great design.

Geneva 2008: Mazda2 three-door makes world debut

One year after the five-door version of the Mazda2 debuted here at Geneva, now it’s time for the Mazda2 three-door version to be presented in world premiere at the Swiss show. The car presented at the Mazda stand looks good especially in the red mica color (like the Mazda Ryuga concept presented last year at Detroit) and with the exterior sports package featuring lowered suspension, wider tread, projector-type headlamps and 16-inch painted wheels. On the interior, the car has also sporty accents, with Recaro® seats in racy red and black two-tone, matching red stitching on the leather steering wheel leather inserts and panels on the door trims.

Under the hood, the Mazda2 three-door hatchback will be available with the same engines as the ?ve-door hatchback:
• MZR 1.5-litre petrol with maximum power of 76 kW/103 PS at 6,000 rpm, maximum torque of 137 Nm at 4,000 rpm
• MZR 1.5-litre uses only 5.9 litres of fuel per 100 km (combined), produces just 140 g/km of CO 2
• MZR 1.3-litre Standard Power version with maximum power of 55 kW/75 PS at 6,000 rpm, maximum torque of 121 Nm at 3,500 rpm
• MZR 1.3-litre High Power version with maximum output of 63 kW/86 PS at 6,000 rpm, maximum torque of 122 Nm at 3,500 rpm
• Both derivatives of the MZR 1.3-litre petrol use just 5.4 litres of fuel per 100 km (combined) and produce just 129 g/km of CO 2
• MZ-CD 1.4-litre common-rail turbo diesel engine with maximum power of 50 kW/68 PS at 4,000 rpm and 160 Nm of torque at a low 2,000 rpm for lively driving fun
• MZ-CD 1.4-litre uses just 4.3 litres fuel per 100 km (combined) and produces a very low 114 g/km of CO 2
• Five-speed manual transmission standard for all engines

For more details and a complete photo gallery, click on the ‘Read More’ link below.

100,000 Mazda2 sold in only 8 months

Yesterday, Mazda made a press release in which announced that the 100,000th Mazda2 (called Mazda Demio, for the Japanese market), with only 8 month passed since the car debuted, in May 2007. Mazda’s competitor in the small car class did a really good job and the 31 international awards prove that. Last year was also a very good one for Mazda in Europe, the Japanese producer managing to sell 311,247 units here, its highest volume since 1991. This is also due to Mazda2’s success, 12,591 units being sold in just four months.

Updated Mazda Axela debuts in Japan

The new Mazda Axela (or the Mazda 3 as we know it) was launched for the Japanese market. Most notable updates include chrome door handles, new roof spoiler and new alloy-wheel options. Also, Mazda worked on the interior, which has a higher quality and features piano black parts on the center panel and the power window switches, chrome parts for some levers and buttons and, by using sound absorbent materials Mazda managed to reduce the cabin noise.

Detroit Auto Show: Mazda Furai Concept

The Mazda Furai Concept was unveiled today at the Detroit Auto Show. We’ve already written about this car, you can check our previous post here. Created as a celebration of Mazda’s rotary engine 40 years anniversary, Furai is Japanese for “the sound of wind” and is seen as the future on environmentally-friendly sports cars. The car is built to operate on 100% ethanol, however, Mazda and its partner, BP, are currently researching other fuel alternatives, such as ethanol/gasoline blends like E10.

Powered by the 450 hp RENESIS-based R20B three-rotor rotary engine, the Mazda Furai is based on a Courage C65 chassis and, featuring racing technologies, is able to reach over 180 mph top speed.

“The Mazda design and R&D teams worked closely with Swift Engineering to refine the aerodynamic characteristics, assuring that Furai remains glued to the ground at high speeds. Through its existing relationship with Swift Engineering, forged through development of the Mazda/Cosworth-powered Champ Car Atlantic single-seater chassis, the team used complex Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software to tune various Nagare design elements to function at a high degree of efficiency. Drag, downforce, lift and overall aesthetics were all key considerations.”