Mazda 3 turbo no closer to Australia

The closest thing to a revival of the Mazda 3 MPS hot hatch remains off-limits to Australia – and built in left-hand drive only – despite interest from local buyers.

The turbocharged version of the 2023 Mazda 3 small car is no closer to local showrooms – but it remains on Mazda Australia’s wish list.

The Mazda 3 Turbo has been off the cards for local showrooms since it was unveiled – despite Australia being a key market for Mazda globally – as it is only manufactured in left-hand drive.

Mazda Australia marketing director Alastair Doak told Drive there have been no developments on plans for a right-hand-drive version, but the car remains on the company’s wish list if it is made available to our market.

“It is still left-hand-drive only … the bottom line is no [it remains unavailable to Australia],” Mr Doak said.

MORE: 2021 Mazda 3 Turbo unveiled

The chances of a local introduction for the Mazda 3 Turbo – and its CX-30 Turbo sibling – may become even slimmer if strict vehicle emissions standards are introduced in Australia, as mooted last year, which would require car makers to meet an average fuel-efficiency figure across their model range.

While car makers say emissions standards similar to those in Europe would help secure more electric cars for local showrooms, they would make it harder to sell – and offset – thirsty petrol-powered performance cars.

“The question is … if the Australian government come out with stronger CO₂ [emissions] targets and a roadmap to that, then does that make [the Mazda 3 Turbo] even less likely? Maybe,” Mr Doak told Drive.

“But it’s on our wish list at the moment and we continue to ask for it.”

Alongside the lack of a right-hand-drive version, a roadblock facing the Mazda 3 Turbo and CX-30 Turbo is they are only built in Mazda’s Mexico factory for North America – not the Japanese plant where non-turbo Australian versions of each car are manufactured.

Powering both cars is a 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol shared with the CX-5 and CX-9 SUVs and Mazda 6 sedan, matched to a six-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.

The engine – which was originally designed to replace a petrol V6 in the CX-9 seven-seater – is unchanged, meaning outputs of 170kW and 420Nm on regular-unleaded fuel, or 186kW and 434Nm with premium petrol.

2.5-litre turbo engine in the Mazda CX-5 SUV.

While the Mazda 3 Turbo might be turbocharged like the MPS hot-hatch variant of the 2000s – and can cover 0-100km/h in a similar 6.0 to 6.5 seconds, based on independent testing in the US – its suspension, brakes and styling are all but unchanged compared to the standard Mazda 3.

In the US, the Mazda 3 Turbo is priced from $US32,450 ($AU45,950) to $US35,300 ($AU50,000) plus on-road costs in hatchback form – similar to a middle-of-the-range Volkswagen Golf GTI, or a Hyundai i30 Sedan N DCT.

These cars are priced from approximately $50,000 to $55,000 plus on-road costs in Australia.

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