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The new Mazda3 will be unveiled at the Los Angeles Motor Show next month, along with the Japanese carmaker's stop-start ignition system.
Mazda will take the covers off its four-door sedan version of the Mazda3 at Los Angeles - the five-door hatchback variant won't break cover until the Detroit show in January.
The Mazda3 is the latest addition to the company's reinvented product line-up and follows the introduction of the award-winning Mazda2, voted the World Car of the Year for 2007.
The Mazda3 offers more interior room than the current model, largely because it is built on the longer platform of the upcoming third-generation Ford Focus, due for release in 2010.
At the front, sleek headlights are mixed with deep air intakes and a low splitter. In profile, there's the trademark angled C-pillar, but it's joined by a waistline that kicks up over the back door towards a chunky rear bumper and a steeply angled tailgate.
Inside, the Mazda3 gets new, improved materials and a dashboard that copies its counterpart in the Mazda6, complete with steering wheel-mounted controls for the stereo and ventilation systems.
Sedan and hatchback are expected to go on sale in New Zealand around the middle of next year, although the stop-start technology won't be available until the sulphur content in petrol sold here is reduced.
Stop-start systems such as those in the Mazdas are part of a high-tech bundle of direct-injection engine componentry which needs low-sulphur fuel to work efficiently.
Start-stop systems use a more powerful starter motor to cut the engine when the car is at rest to improve fuel economy and reduce exhaust emissions.
Several already exist, including those used by Citroen and BMW.
But Mazda claims its system restarts the engine quicker than the European units. However, prototype tests have shown that the Mazda system takes longer to stop the engine, largely due to the need to stop the pistons in the right place for restarting.
Stop-start technology is only available on cars with manual gearboxes, although Mazda says it has adapted it to work in vehicles with an automatic transmission.
