Mazda gave a private preview tonight of the Mazda3 hatchback new generation which it will show in public later this week at the Bologna Motor Show.
The latest version of the model, which is responsible for 30 percent of Mazda sales worldwide, will go on sale in Ireland in May.
It is stylistically now completely in line with the latest Mazda family look, as seen in the current Mazda6 and latest Mazda2.
For Ireland, the key model will be the 1.6 diesel, which has CO2 emissions of 119 g/km, but a 1.6 petrol basic model will also be available.
A 2.2 diesel with emissions of less than 150 g/km will also be on the Irish market list.
Five years after the sales start of the first generation Mazda3, total sales have surpassed 1.8 million units.
