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2016 Mazda2 won't come to the US

Hoping to get your hands on the new Mazda2? Don't get your hopes up too high, because the latest word has it that the new hatchback won't be available in the United States. According to the report from Automotive News, Mazda's US office has decided against bringing the new Mazda2 to American showrooms. This despite it being made just south of the border in Salamanca, Mexico. The reasons are apparently two-fold. For starters, Mazda sales offices around the world have been clamoring for larger allotments of the new 2, and the company can only supply so many. "We could have had it, but we would have had a number that didn't make much sense with 600 dealers and with the marketing it takes to launch a new car," Robert Davis, Mazda's senior VP of US sales operations, told AN. For another, Mazda is apparently not convinced the new supermini would resonate with US buyers, who are increasingly migrating towards crossovers. So Mazda is focusing instead on "products that make us and our dealers considerably more profit than a Mazda2 does." That doesn't mean the latest Mazda2 will be entirely out of our reach forever, though. The company's agreement with Toyota will see a sedan version sold in the US as the Scion iA. Mazda is also certifying it to US safety and environmental standards so that it can sell the 2 in Puerto Rico, which means that it wouldn't take much to change course and bring the hatchback into the US in the future: "It'll always be there if we need it," Davis told AN. Reached for comment, a spokesman for Mazda's North American operations told Autoblog that "The Mazda2 launch in the U.S. market is on hold in order to evaluate the B-Car segment and enable us the opportunity to focus on the launches of the refreshed Mazda6 and CX-5, and the all-new MX-5 roadster and CX-3 subcompact crossover SUV." That leaves the aforementioned CX-3 - which is, incidentally, based on the same architecture as the Mazda2 - as the smallest mainstream model that Mazda will offer Stateside.

Mazda Furai concept designer talks about his car's passing

Last week, there was mourning at the Autoblog offices as word trickled in that the Mazda Furai concept - one of the coolest, best-looking showcars to grace an auto show stage since the wild and crazy 1960s -had been killed. It was killed on the track with the folks from Top Gear in attendance. We're sure the gods of driving would have wanted it to die on a circuit, but that doesn't make its fiery passing any easier to deal with.
The Furai is the rare concept car that had a lasting appeal with enthusiasts, partly because it was a real, functioning racecar, complete with a wacky three-rotor Wankel engine and cutting-edge Nagare design. Now that it's gone, though, Road & Track's Mallory McMorrow, who was an intern at Mazda Design when the Furai was being styled in 2007, has published an interview with one of the men who penned the Mazda showcar's striking exterior, Carlos Salaff. It's a great piece on the emotional connection between a designer and his creation, and one you should take the time to read. Click on over to R&T for the full story.

Graffiti artist Banksy turns Mazda Protege into warfare commentary

British street artist Banksy, who currently resides in New York City for its high pedestrian traffic and plentiful hiding spots, recently took his stencils and spray cans to a truck trailer and an old Mazda to make a commentary about war, according to a video report by Newsy.
Part of the canvas, a late-1990s Mazda Protege, is a sub-$3,000 used car at best, but we're sure having Banksy's art sprayed onto it has greatly increased its value, as it did to a piece at a Former Packard plant in Detroit a few years ago. The same goes for the trailer, which looks like it would be right at home attached to a U-Haul rental truck.
The graffito, painted in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, was accompanied by a link to some disturbing audio from a controversial 2007 military video leaked by Wikileaks in 2010. Head on below to watch the video report, and be sure to visit Banksy's website if you want to see the painting with the audio (listener discretion advised).