Over in Slovakia, the difference between €19,990 and €23,190 works out at $3,590 for the front-wheel-drive sedan with the six-speed manual transmission. As mentioned beforehand, trailblazing costs money, and these expenditures in research & development level up the starting price of the vehicle. It’s likely that Mazda threads on this path in order to maximize profit, an important aspect for a small automaker with a limited budget and the shareholders who call the shots in the background.
If you were curious what else is Mazda working on right now, the list is long and interesting. At the Fiscal Year March 2019 Financial Results event, the Japanese manufacturer confirmed the development of the Large Architecture for rear- and all-wheel-drive vehicles with mild- and plug-in hybrid powertrain options. Two all-new engine families – the SkyActiv-X supercharged gasoline inline-six and SkyActiv-D turbo diesel inline-six – are in the pipeline as well.
Lower down the spectrum, the Small Architecture of the Mazda3 will receive some upgrades for the SkyActiv-G and SkyActiv-D engine options. An independently-developed EV has been confirmed as well, but not much is known as the present moment about this model.
Autonomous driving technologies, V2X (vehicle-to-everything) connectivity, and a successor for the BT-50 pickup truck round off the list of newities. Looking to the future, Mazda appears to be on the right track, preparing to take on the challenges of the automotive industry in the 2020s.
