Mazda has given its 2 Hybrid a major styling update in an effort to make it look a bit less like the Toyota Yaris that it's based on.
Mazda still sells two 2s
Confusingly, Mazda currently sells two 2s. There's a Mazda 2 which is entirely a Mazda product and which uses the company's long-serving 1.5-litre petrol engine. Then there's the 2 Hybrid, which until now has basically been a Toyota Yaris Hybrid with Mazda badges, thanks to a technology-sharing agreement between the two companies.
Now, though, the 2 Hybrid has a bit more of its own personality thanks to some major styling revisions at the front. Gone is the Toyota-with-Mazda-badges look, and in comes styling that looks a little more distinctively Mazda-esque. There's no mistaking that it's a Yaris clone inside, or when you see it from the side, but it's definitely less of a carbon-copy now.
New bumpers and grille
The front bumper and grille are now unique to the Mazda, and along with the rear bumper and a panel on the tailgate, it's all been designed at Mazda's European styling centre in Germany. The new version of the 2 Hybrid will launch in the spring of 2024, and will continue to sell alongside Mazda's own home-grown 2 hatchback. It will be available in Centre-Line, Exclusive-Line, Homura and Homura Plus trim levels.
It's part of an electrified Mazda lineup that includes the likes of the CX-60 plug-in hybrid SUV, and the fully electric but short-ranged MX-30. That MX-30 will be joined early next year by a new range-extender version, which gets a truncated 80km electric range, but which has an on-board petrol-fuelled rotary engine range extender and a 50-litre fuel tank, which should mean that you can finally drive from Dublin to Cork in one go in an MX-30.
Popular addition
A Mazda spokesperson said: "The Mazda 2 Hybrid is a popular addition to our line-up and it's great that from next March it will feature a greater element of Mazda exterior design personality. With the Mazda 2 Hybrid sold alongside the recently updated Mazda 2, which offers our customers extra individuality with more distinct model grades, increased colour choice and refreshed styling, we are giving customers in the supermini segment the choice of two distinct models, depending on their needs."