Motoring News
Today, 26 November 2013Mazda 2 targets female appeal
The new Mazda 2 hatchback will get a more feminine appeal when it launches in Europe next year
The new Mazda 2, due in European showrooms next autumn, is intended to have a softer, more feminine appeal than today’s car.Mazda Europe design chief Peter Birtwhistle said: “The car is much more profitable in Asia than it is in Europe and has therefore been designed to appeal to a predominantly feminine customer base.“It’s prevented us from putting too much visual muscle into the styling, for fear of scaring people off,” he said. “But it’s a good-looking car, and I’m happy with the result.”The new 2 is also set to spawn a compact SUV, a model that is new to Mazda’s line-up.
read moreBMW i3 to spawn new family car
Stretched version of the electric BMW i3, most likely called the i5, to become new family car
The BMW i3 platform will be stretched to create a new family car, probably called the i5, according to insiders.The new model would be notably more family friendly, with extra legroom in the rear cabin and a bigger boot. BMW admits that it has already trademarked the monikers i1 through to i8, making it clear that it intends to expand its new ‘i’ sub-brand.The i3 is just four metres long and Autocar understands that BMW engineers think that by adding just 100mm of extra legroom and another 150mm of rear overhang, they can create a spacious family EV hardly longer than a Mini Countryman.Creating the i5 is potentially a much cheaper and simpler operation than stretching a conventional steel monocoque car, as the i3 uses a separate chassis. Lengthening it is mostly a matter of extending the chassis’s longitudinal aluminium extrusions. Likewise, because the body is made of carbonfibre-reinforced plastics, extending the pillarless passenger cell is mainly a case of stretching the roof and floor sections. Only the rear door structure w
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