[Cartoday]
Although the next Mazda3 will probably not reach South Africa before 2010, new pictures suggest the Hiroshima-based manufacturer might offer the sportiest (and arguably best-looking) sub-compact that Japan has ever produced. 
According to Mazda design chief Laurens van den Acker, the next Mazda3 will showcase a new design direction for the manufacturer’s entire product portfolio (as if we weren’t particularly partial to the Mazda2 and new Mazda6, anyway – Ed.) These pictures, believed to depict a pre-production Mazda3, have recently sprung up around several automotive sites and should they be genuine, the newcomer clearly takes design cues from the company’s Nagare design theme. The on-sale-in-2010 Mazda3 looks set to sport a trio of new elements that have been incorporated in respective concepts over the last year. The large front air dam would not look out of place on an MPS, and its large opening, which doubles as the Mazda3's grille, is flanked by diamond-shaped air intakes with integrated foglights.
The resulting “gaping grin” effect (created by the tapered front end, thin, elongated headlights and flowing creases in the side panels) have featured in showpieces such as the Kabura and Taiki. There’s no surprise that a longer wheelbase and shorter front and rear overhangs will be adopted, but it should be noted that Van den Acker is reportedly determined to make all of Mazdas appear more sporting, with a low-slung style that mimics the shape of rear-wheel drive cars. As for the rear end, it remains to be seen whether the handsome wraparound LED tail lamps will protrude quite as much on the production model, and the similarly-shaped in-set dual exhaust ends also looks like a concept-only touch. It is commonly believed that a closer-to-production Mazda3 concept could make its début at the Frankfurt Show next year, and while the five-door is set to be launched on the world market by early 2010, the four-door version is likely to follow in 2011. Unfortunately, it is still too soon to speculate about powertrains and other details.