Mazda 2 (Demio) Hybrid

The new 1996 (sold as either the Demio or 121 outside Japan, or Metro in Australia) used the DW platform. Production started in July of 1996. The Mazda Demio was updated for 2000 with a revised exterior, cabin air filtration, retuned automatic transmission, and available DSC due to a 2002 redesign. It was also sold in Japan as the Ford Festiva Mini Wagon.

The Mazda Demio was redesigned in 2002 on the DY platform. The name continued in Japan, while the rest of the world dropped Demio and other names in favor of Mazda 2. Since it's debut, 2 has earned itself a name for being practical and fun to drive, pushing its Japanese domestic sale to as high as 7th place.

The Demio comes with ABS and EBD, and stability control is optional. An innovative feature offered in Japan is e-4WD, a hybrid car-type system which uses an electric motor to power the rear wheels of this front wheel drive vehicle when needed. In the Mazda Demio, this system is used only as a traction aid, not for increased fuel economy as in most other vehicles.

The New Mazda 2 is the first of Mazda's Zoom-Zoom cars to receive an upgrade. The New Mazda 2 is also a radical departure from the 2002 model. It abandons the practical and boxy shape and replaces it with a sexy and more attractive body. The Demio is expected to be revamped for the 2007 model year, with the sporty Micro-Sport coupe added for Europe and Japan. Mazda has announced that the next generation of the car, referred to as "the next sub compact, B-segment Mazda", will not be manufactured in Valencia, Spain, but in Hiroshima, Japan. It will feature either an MZR 1.35 liter engine, or a larger MZR 1.5 liter engine. Additionally, Mazda has released information regarding a Mazda 2 MPS model with a direct-injection Turbo engine and all-wheel-drive. Photos of the new Mazda 2 can be seen in Mazda's pertinent press release.

Mazda has already announced that the sedan verion of Mazda 2 will be produced for Chinese market by Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co., Ltd. at its Nanjing plant. The car will go on sale in the first half of 2008.

Mazda 2 Demio Hybrid