The Mazda 2 Hybrid: low consumption, high price

Practical test Mazda 2 Hybrid: Very economical at a high price

2025-01-29 From Sven Prawitz | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

With the Mazda 2 Hybrid, the Japanese manufacturer offers a small car that shines with consumption values under five liters. However, customers have to pay from 25,000 euros (26.000 USD) for the city car.

The Mazda 2 Hybrid in a practical test: The model is nearly identical to the Toyota Yaris.(Image: Sven Prawitz/VCG) — The Mazda 2 Hybrid in a practical test: The model is nearly identical to the Toyota Yaris.
(Image: Sven Prawitz/VCG)

The new Mazda 2 Hybrid is essentially a Toyota Yaris. Mazda only changed the bumper and the logos. The model is intended to improve the manufacturer's CO₂ fleet balance. This is because Mazda has focused intensively on combustion engines in recent months. Among other things, on a new six-cylinder diesel engine and a rotary engine.

Access to the Toyota bestseller is convenient—Mazda has a Chinese partner for the all-electric sedan 6e. In this respect, the Mazda 2 Hybrid is hardly distinguishable from the sister model. The space available is limited overall—and significantly less than in previous Yaris series. Headroom and legroom in the rear are tight. For tall drivers, it's so tight that the traffic light may not be in view when standing at the line. The panoramic roof thus becomes unintentionally practical: leaning back relaxed, you have a clear view of the traffic light.

Good software (from Toyota)

The ambiance of the small car is decent, although it is dominated by more affordable materials in muted colors. The Mazda 2 Hybrid offers a variety of equipment features typical of a modern vehicle class. The infotainment system, sourced from Toyota, impresses with a contemporary user interface and good voice recognition. A big plus, as Mazda significantly lags behind with its own software used in other models. However, the map display is poorly implemented. Some symbols are so small that they cannot be recognized while driving, such as warnings or delays on the route.

The Toyota hybrid system, tested and proven over the years, is convincing in terms of consumption: 5 liters per 100 kilometers (approx. 62 miles) on rural roads (with a 33% EV share), 4.7 liters in the city (47% EV share), and 5.8 liters on the highway are good values. However, on our highway journey, there were some long construction sites, and we settled for a maximum speed of 130 km/h (approx. 80,8 mph).

The prices of the Mazda 2 Hybrid

The Mazda 2 Hybrid is offered in five trim levels, each increasing in price by 2,000 euros (2.080 USD). The price list starts at 25,000 euros. By comparison, Toyota offers the Yaris starting at 25,500 euros (26.520 USD). Our test car in the highest "Homura Plus" variant costs a good 33,000 euros (34.320 USD). The previously self-developed and manufactured Mazda 2 is still available, but it can no longer be individually configured.

With the same drive power, the own model as a mild hybrid in the base is only 1,000 euros (1.040 USD) cheaper and consumes a good liter more fuel (according to the WLTP cycle). However, the step to the cheaper variants of the original Mazda 2 (from 17,000 euros, 17.680 USD) is significant. These will likely permanently disappear from the range once remaining stocks are sold out. The manufacturer's measure to reduce its CO₂ fleet values results in customers paying a significant surcharge.

What else we noticed is shown in the image gallery

Gallery

In urban environments without many traffic lights, values around 4 l/100 km (appro. 62 miles) are achievable. On the highway, consumption tends towards 6 l/100 km.(Image: Sven Prawitz/VCG)

The drive of the Mazda 2 Hybrid makes it easy to drive economically.(Image: Sven Prawitz/VCG)

The cockpit and infotainment displays deviate from the Mazda standard. Here, too, Toyota technology is used.(Image: Sven Prawitz/VCG)

A 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine is installed. The output is specified at 85 kW.(Image: Sven Prawitz/VCG)

Gallery with 9 images

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