Ford has a long history of creating factory-built racers based on its regular production cars. Over the past four decades, most of those have have been derived from the Mustang. Since the mid-90s, that has included several runs of Cobra Rs, and today, a couple of variants of the FR500. Later this summer, Ford will revive another Mustang variant from the first generation when the Cobra Jet is reborn. The original Cobra Jet was built as a drag racing special with a high-torque long-stroke 428 cu. in. V8. Forty years later, Ford will be building a new Cobra Jet this summer.

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Ford has been developing lots of different materials from renewable sources including the soyfoam that they introduced in the Mustang seats for 2008. Now Ford's Japanese affiliate Mazda has kicked off a new research program with hometown school Hiroshima University to develop a new type of plastic. Current plastics are largely made from petroleum-derived materials meaning that they too contribute to our fossil fuel dependency. Mazda's research is focused on creating a new bioplastic made from cellulosic biomass. Like cellulosic ethanol, the new bioplastic won't be made from food products.

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The Mazda 929 from the '90s was a rear-wheel-drive technological marvel that was ultimately unsuccessful because of its hefty price tag and Americans' infatuation with the SUV. Times have changed and big cars are cool again, with just about everybody on the market offering a large sedan. Mazda, however, is an obvious exception. The artists over at CGI Automotive decided to render out a future Mazda9 just for fun, and while it looks a bit awkward, the overall idea is pretty solid.

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Amazing how $4-per-gallon gas can make us sit up and notice formerly innocuous economy cars. In all fairness, cars like the Mazda2 have always shown brightly on our radar. Sporty and stylish with a bargain-basement price tag and a fuel-sipping demeanor that will keep more of those dead presidents in our pockets, it sounds like a perfect fit. When you add in the Zoom-Zoom nature of your typical Mazda, the fun factor just shoots up to 11.

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High energy costs and growth in emerging markets have automakers scrambling to downsize their product plans, and ultra-small transportation like the VW up! is bound to bring low-cost city cars to the masses. Mazda intends to be a serious player in this burgeoning segment and will unveil the Mazda1 concept in Paris this fall, expected to look like the sketch above and influenced by the Nagare design language.

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Although we've seen the Mazda2 before in 3- and 5-door configurations overseas, the presence of it at a local car meet in Southern California had us once again speculating about its sales potential in the States. The fact that the meet was held at Mazda's SoCal HQ means that the car could simply be undergoing evaluation, but judging by the reaction of the crowd, we think this has better sales potential than the 2009 Focus that was parked at the other end of the lot.

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You don't need to spend much time with a Miata to "get" why so many drivers are attracted to them. Perfectly executed and relentlessly entertaining, it's no surprise that Mazda's little roadster is the track-day weapon of choice for a number of people. While countless 4-banger Miatas do their thing on the autocross circuit, one Mark Snell was interested in kicking things up a level so he could run with the big boys in their 'Vettes and similar machinery. His solution?

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Mazda is planning an August launch for its all-new Mazda6 midsize sedan in North America, almost a year after the car was first displayed at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. Part of the reason for the delay is because the new car has been specifically designed for North America and includes a larger body and more powerful engines than the global version. Handling and comfort were also optimized for North American road conditions.

The North American Mazda6 will be powered by a newly developed 2.5L inline four-cylinder engine or a 3.7L V6. The four-cylinder is already available in the European and Japanese Mazda6 models, while the V6 engine is the same unit from the CX-9 SUV.

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Mazda's rally history may not be as rich as some other Japanese marques, but Mazda Australia is more than willing to set the record straight. For their eighth Targa Tasmania excursion, held from April 15-20, Mazda will use a brand new Mazda3 MPS rally car.

Mazda Motorsport chief Allan Horsley heads the team consisting of Rick Bates and Alister McRae and their co-drivers who will compete in the 2WD Showroom competition. Targa Tasmania rules state that the rally cars must be mostly standard, meaning that drivers will compete in cars featuring audio systems, electric windows and carpets and upholstery in tact. Additional safety equipment (roll-cage, five-point harness and fire extinguishers), as well as navigation equipment and extra brake ventilation, is fitted of course.

"The team learned a lot from last year's event," says Bates. "With one Targa in the Mazda3 MPS under our belts we're all a lot more educated in terms of vehicle preparation and conservation during the event." The Targa Tasmania covers 2,000 km over five days of competition.

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Mazda's new facelifted RX-8. Now on sale in Japan and heading to the UK this summer.

This latest makeover package sees a whole series of detail tweaks, including freshened up styling, better quality interior and improved suspension. Up ahead the RX-8's unique two-rotor engine is also subtly breathed on.

Visually, the immediate giveaway is the RX-8's new egg-crate grille with bar on top. The revamp also brings new front and rear bumpers, reshaped head and tail lights and those more aggressive air vents. Alloy wheels are new for 2008 duty, too. There's more facelift action inside with new-look sloping centre console, steering wheel and seat design.

So far, so good, but what about the rotary engine, long criticised for its heavy thirst, poor oil consumption and lack of low-end torque? Mazda has made only minor changes this time round, introducing a new oil pump to improve its addiction to the black stuff, and new water pump.

Torque, mpg and C02 all stay unchanged, and power in Japan for the 6-speed manual RX-8 actually drops from 247bhp down to 232bhp.

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Mazda Motor Corporation has announced that domestic production in Japan during fiscal year 2007 has exceeded one million units. This marks Mazda’s highest domestic production volume in 15 years since 1992. Masaharu Yamaki, senior managing executive officer in charge of production and business logistics, said, “We want to thank all of our valued customers across the globe who have supported Mazda and helped us break the previous 15 year-old production record. Producing over one million vehicles in Japan during the first year of our new mid-term plan, the Mazda Advancement Plan, is extremely significant. This achievement shows we are on track to reach the targets set out in the plan. We will strive to maintain this momentum and drive Mazda’s growth forward.”

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Mazda’s diminutive Mazda2 (Demio) hatch has taken out the annual World Car of the Year (WCOTY) awards in New York, beating 38 other cars for the top spot including the Ford Mondeo and Mercedes-Benz C-Class in the top three. The Mazda2 was nominated by 47 World Car jurors from 24 countries and was picked because of its appealing looks and high levels of standard equipment for the price.

Rather than being just a popularity contest, the objective was to ensure that the WCOTY would be the product of a fair and thorough assessment process that considered the needs and wants of consumers the world over. The process began with individual jurors evaluating and rating the candidates using a variety of standardized parameters – everything from styling and quality, to performance and safety. To be eligible for the award, the vehicles had to be in production, and sold, on at least two continents during 2008.

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One year after the five-door version of the Mazda2 debuted here at Geneva, now it’s time for the Mazda2 three-door version to be presented in world premiere at the Swiss show. The car presented at the Mazda stand looks good especially in the red mica color (like the Mazda Ryuga concept presented last year at Detroit) and with the exterior sports package featuring lowered suspension, wider tread, projector-type headlamps and 16-inch painted wheels. On the interior, the car has also sporty accents, with Recaro® seats in racy red and black two-tone, matching red stitching on the leather steering wheel leather inserts and panels on the door trims.

Under the hood, the Mazda2 three-door hatchback will be available with the same engines as the ?ve-door hatchback:
• MZR 1.5-litre petrol with maximum power of 76 kW/103 PS at 6,000 rpm, maximum torque of 137 Nm at 4,000 rpm
• MZR 1.5-litre uses only 5.9 litres of fuel per 100 km (combined), produces just 140 g/km of CO 2

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Mazda’s ASV-4 (Advanced Safety Vehicle) will take to the roads in Hiroshima this week for testing. The unassuming ASV-4 is a bustling test balloon filled to the brim with safety technology.

The ASV-4 project is developing a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system that will warn the driver of other cars presence in low-visibility and blind intersections. The warning system is said to help eliminate two-vehicle accidents – hence improving road safety. The Advanced Safety Vehicle program has been in operation since 1991. The previous three phases of the project have already brought safety features to the foreground, including a rear vehicle monitoring system and Mazda’s Precrash Safety system. ASV-4 promises to further the safety technologies in models around the globe.

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We’ve learned that Mazda will be launching a 175bhp diesel version of the new 6 at the end of the year.

The engine is understood to be based on a new 2.2 litre capacity version of Mazda’s own 2.0 litre diesel unit, which was recently upgraded to 138 bhp in the new Mazda 6 – and is not related to the Ford-PSA joint venture diesel motor of similar capacity and power.

It will come with a six-speed manual gearbox and will give Mazda a competitor to the growing number of high-output four-cylinder diesel motors being offered by Volkswagen, Renault, Ford, Peugeot and Citroen.

The launch of the new car is tipped to be at the Paris show in September. An idea to bring the launch forward to the London show in July is understood to have been scrapped.

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