hapaboy

looks to me like they watered down the taiki and furai concept fronts.

TRDFantasy

Problem is those concepts had MUCH different proportions and were overall larger vehicles than the 3 is. The styling of the Taiki and Furai does NOT work on a vehicle that has small size and proportions like the 3.

superchan7

Ugly or not, it has personality and aggressive attitude, and sets the car apart with Mazda's own styling identity. I think that's what appeals to younger buyers these days.

On a different note, those rear passenger doors sure look small. Hope ingress/egress is OK for the rear seat.

kit cat

iTrader: (6)

hapaboy

agree, the car is too short to take advantage of the swooping lines. the styling elements are there, but totally different feeling.

mmarshall

+1

Most of you who follow my auto reviews have seen the comments I made about the "circus clown" grilles on new Acuras. This Mazda3 "grille", (though it is not really a grille, but a simple opening), easily one-ups even the new Acuras.

sirCharles

If one keeps a Mazda front license plate on the fascia, then it looks a lot better.

Good Job MAZDA! Zoom Zoom!

ST430

You are confusing reliability and quality. It's been very reliable and operated without a hitch, however its quality seems below average with easily worn leather, ratlles, cheap plastic, interior noise, etc.

mmarshall

I was going by what Consumer Reports, a well-respected organization, found in their annual vehicle-reliability surveys. They go by what car owners actually put down on the survey forms, from their own experience. And, given CR's size, that is a LOT of survey forms.

LexFather

THat front end is horrible. Way to big for a small car. The rear is has too much trunk, too little Altezzas and tiny dual pipes (why dual pipes?)

The Mazda 6 and this car (and others with giant wheel arches) NEED big wheels. Otherwise they look TERRIBLE.

I saw a new 6 and expected to like it. Well the huge front arch with base wheels looked horrific.

Interior is nice, NAV screen seems small.

It seems every new car that debuts gives me the "meh" feeling.

mmarshall

Looks like a BIG West Virginia smile without any teeth.

TRDFantasy

I'm a younger buyer, and this new Mazda 3 does not appeal to me AT ALL. The current 3 appeals to me more based on styling alone. A lot of my friends who have seen pics of the new 3 hate it as well. One of my friends who happens to work at a Mazda dealership thinks it's a horrible design. Most of my friends fall into the "young people" category.

The Scion tC has the lowest average buyer age in the North American market, so no I don't think "personality and aggressive attitude" is the only thing that appeals to younger buyers. Things like customization, aftermarket support and niche status also appeal to younger buyers. That is on top of some conventional things that do appeal to younger buyers, like low cost, low maintenance, easy to handle and drive, good fuel efficiency, and good safety.

whoster

I'm just going to have to wait for the hatch...