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Auto-industry

With Ford set to introduce its 2011 Fiesta in North America next summer, Mazda didn’t want to miss the opportunity to release its own subcompact car that shares its underpinnings with the Ford hatchback. Taking advantage of the “green” publicity given to the Los Angeles International Auto Show, Mazda plans to take the wraps off its 2011 Mazda MAZDA2 early next month. Like the Ford Fiesta, the Mazda MAZDA2 has been a big hit in automotive markets around the world, but Mazda announced that the North American-bound production model of the MAZDA2 would be unveiled on December 2 with sales commencing late next year.

Although Mazda has yet to release the full details or any images for the North American MAZDA2 (the overseas version is pictured below), it did show off a single teaser picture showing a close up of the rear driver’s three-quarter view. From this shot we can’t really tell too much about the car other than it will have different taillights as is usually the case with the Europe to North America translation. As for the rest of the car, we expect similar changes to take place as we saw on the Ford Fiesta that include mostly regulatory changes to the front and rear fascias, the hood and side mirrors. While a five-door hatchback is teased in the picture, expect a MAZDA2 sedan and three-door hatchback to join the lineup following the car’s initial introduction.

“Mazda's lineup now spans the most significant product segments in the industry, and is the strongest, best-designed, best-built we have ever offered,” Jim O’Sullivan, president and CEO of Mazda’s North American Operations, said. “MAZDA2 will be true to everything that makes our cars stand apart from the competition: it will be stylish, fun-to-drive and a heck of a value.”

He went on to add that the MAZDA2 will complete the “bookends” of Mazda’s North American lineup in reference to the car’s small stature in comparison to the seven-passenger Mazda CX-9 crossover.

There have been numerous rumors in regards to what the MAZDA2 will use under the hood, but it is likely that it will use the same 1.6-liter inline-4 as the 2011 Fiesta along with the option of Ford’s dual-clutch Powershift six-speed automatic transmission. With the North American market shifting toward smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, the 2011 Mazda would likely get fuel economy estimates of around 30 miles per gallon in the city and at least 40 mpg on the highway. Further fuel economy improvements will be possible thanks to the engine’s twin independent variable cam timing (Ti-VCT).

Besides the Fiesta, the Mazda MAZDA2 will compete against subcompact cars such as the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris and Chevrolet Aveo5. The addition of the 2011 Mazda MAZDA2 will give the Japanese automaker a total of 8 models, and it will likely build on the success of recent model introductions including the Mazda CX-9 crossover, Mazda MAZDA6 sedan and Mazda MAZDA3 hatchback.

Select photos via Mazda

In a perfect world, my daily driver would be a Porsche 911 that goes from 0-60 in 3.5 seconds, stickers for under $20,000, seats five in comfort, is made entirely from recycled water bottles and runs solely on universe juice. And earns an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Top Safety Pick award, of course.

Needless to say, I'm not going to be holding my breath as I wait for Porsche to get something like this into production, and not the least of the reasons for this is because, at this stage in the game, some of my requirements are mutually exclusive. For example, to get Porsche-like performance in a vehicle that runs on electricity (about as close as we can currently get to universe juice) happens to require six figures' worth of technology — along with proximity to a Tesla dealer.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a vehicle that outperforms the industry in just one of those measures, that's a lot easier to find. And this is really the lens through which one should view the IIHS results.

Making the IIHS Top Safety Pick list is akin to winning the Green Car of the Year Award or setting a new lap record on the Nürburgring. It puts one measure of vehicle performance ahead of the others, and honors the cars and trucks that excel in that specific area, without regard to performance in other, equally important measures.

I mean, if you want a safe midsize SUV, you probably won't go wrong with an IIHS Top Safety Pick such as the Subaru Tribeca — as long as you don't mind driving a vehicle that achieves a combined EPA mileage rating of just 18 mpg. But you also probably won't go wrong with something like a GMC Terrain, which gets a combined 26 mpg and, like every other vehicle currently on sale in the U.S., meets or surpasses all federally mandated safety requirements.

To kind of level the playing field here, think of the situation like this: If the Tribeca gets points for going "far beyond minimum federal safety standards," as IIHS president Adrian Lund indicates, the Terrain has to receive some love for going far beyond minimum mpg standards.

And this year, quantifying how far a vehicle has to go beyond those federal safety standards to qualify as a Top Safety Pick has become a brewing controversy. More than 90 vehicles made the IIHS list last year, while only 27 did for the 2010 model year. The difference is that the IIHS has added a new roof-strength test to the mix. Top Safety Picks had to receive a "good" rating in this test, and, per the IIHS, "Vehicles rated good have roofs more than twice as strong as the current federal standard requires."

That's a significant addition to the testing regimen, and I don't think anyone can argue that the resulting Top Safety Picks are those that take safety performance to significantly extreme lengths. But just to be clear, they do so in the same way Bugatti takes performance to extreme lengths when it packs 1,000 hp into the Veyron.

That's the reason that Toyota, which had 11 Top Safety Picks last year, has a grand total of zero this year, a number matched by BMW.

With all this in mind, here's how I break down the winners: Ford and its Volvo division had six Top Safety Picks. Four were Volvos, and these, frankly, don't get any extra attention for making the list; Volvo "owns" safety, and every one of their vehicles should be a Top Safety Pick. Getting the Ford Taurus and Lincoln MKS on this list, however, is further evidence of the Blue Oval's momentum.

Subaru put every one of its models except the high-performance Subaru Impreza WRX on the list, which is an impressive feat; but as I hinted at above, one of the company's key safety advantages — its all-wheel-drive technology — continues to hamper its ability to make fuel-efficiency gains.

Volkswagen scored with the Audi A3, Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Passat and Volkswagen Tiguan. The notable thing here is that this includes two vehicles offered with diesel power — the Golf and Jetta — giving VW a sort of two-for-one bonus. But I also have to point out that the Tiguan appears to be another vehicle sacrificing fuel efficiency for safety; the EPA rates it at 19/26/21 in terms of city/highway/combined mpg, which is well off the Terrain's numbers. Plus, the Tiguan calls for premium gasoline.

Honda put both the Honda Civic Sedan and Element on the list, the latter of which joined the equally geometrically challenged Kia Soul and Nissan Cube among the safest boxes on the road. Along with the Buick LaCrosse, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Chevrolet Malibu, these vehicles all stand out as winners that can bring the safety without sacrificing in other areas.

Of course, the oddest thing about this year's IIHS list was that Chrysler saw four vehicles earn Top Safety Pick honors: the Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Avenger, Dodge Journey and Jeep Patriot. I mean, I didn't know the awards were given out posthumously.