Bad News for Hot Hatch Fans: Mazdaspeed3 Revival May Not Happen

It’s Been a While, Mazda For a company that prides itself on driving pleasure, there seems to be a shortage of models that aren’t SUVs. Granted, most of its crossovers are actually great behind the wheel, but there are currently just two non-SUV offerings in the lineup. Of course, there’s the MX-5, along with the Mazda3 sedan and hatchback. Speaking of which, the Mazda3 is available with a turbocharged 2.5-liter engine with all-wheel drive. It’s quite the sleeper , as it’s not exactly obvious in stating its performance intent. Unfortunately, one can’t get three pedals from it, so it’s not quite the modern-day Mazdaspeed3. However, there have been rumors of a sportier Mazda3 from Japan . If true, Mazda will be coming back to the hot hatch market it left way back in 2013. It surely got a lot of people excited, but what’s the real score? Mazda Shutting it Down? In a more recent update, Australian publication Drive reports that it might not happen at all. When Mazda Australia managing director Vinesh Bhindi was asked about the hot hatch, he simply said, “No, it’s rumours.” It’s not the news Mazda and hot hatch fans would’ve wanted to hear, although Bhindi’s explanation doesn’t totally close the door on the idea. The executive said that, from the Australian point of view, a Mazda3 hot hatch won’t make much financial sense, along with the country’s ever-tightening emissions regulations. “From Mazda Australia’s point of view, the NVES (New Vehicle Efficiency Standard) part of it is what it plays,” said Bhindi, adding, “The engineering part… the numbers don’t add up in terms of the number of right-hand drive markets that want that. But if it was, I think we would take it.” The production of the Mazda3 Turbo plays a factor here, as North America is the only market that gets it. Not only that, the model is only made in left-hand drive form and built in Mexico. Reengineering it for other markets will be costly, especially since there are stricter emission regulations in many parts of the world. Then there’s also the matter of certifying for the rest of the world, tooling it for right-hand drive, and shipping it. Consider all those, and the car might price itself out of contention. Mazda A Sliver of Hope Mazda Australia did say that it would sell a hot Mazda 3 if it were available. The thing is, it’s Mazda Japan that has to make the first move to actually make it happen and make better use of economies of scale. Two years ago, the company did say that it’s considering fitting a turbo engine in the Mazda3, and the Spirit Racing Concept was a proof of concept. That said, Mazda does want to grow its Spirit Racing division , and it has started with special versions of the MX-5 along with available parts for those inclined. Perhaps even a limited run of turbocharged Mazda3s would be a good follow-up to the tweaked MX-5s, and see where things go from there. <img src="https://www.autoblog.com/.image/NzowMDAwMDAwMDAxMjI1Njcz/mazda3-spirit-racing.j