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Mazda6 Celebrates 15th Anniversary, But Mazda Is too Busy With Crossovers

The 6er sedan is one of our favorite Mazdas around the office, perhaps second only to the MX-5. And while the Japanese automaker did release a short press release talking about the 15th anniversary of the car and all the awards it's won, we can't help but feel that they're more busy with crossovers.
Mazda6 Celebrates 15th Anniversary, But Mazda Is too Busy With Crossovers 4 photos
Photo: Mazda
Mazda6 Celebrates 15th Anniversary, But Mazda Is too Busy With CrossoversMazda6 Celebrates 15th Anniversary, But Mazda Is too Busy With CrossoversMazda6 Celebrates 15th Anniversary, But Mazda Is too Busy With Crossovers
I mean, you can't celebrate something with just a couple of megabytes of photos. My crazy ant's cat has more attention lavished upon it for its birthday! Like most other companies, Mazda is too busy with crossovers right now. There's the CX-4 for China and the upcoming CX-8. In fact, even though the Mazda6 and CX-5 came out at roughly the same time, only the latter got an all-new generation this year.

Sure, there's a list of awards, but that's just past recognition for the Mazda6's popularity. And we suspect that if the CX-5 had turned 15, they would have organized the biggest gathering in North America or at least built a special edition.

What about that convertible the Japanese engineers put together for a baseball parade - that would have been a cool celebration contraption, right?

At 15 years of age, the Mazda6 is about a third of the age of the VW Passat, and it's only ten years older than the Tesla Model S.

The GG1 first-generation series was launched in Japan back in May 2002. Right from the beginning, the model lineup consists of a four-door sedan, a five-door hatchback, and a five-door wagon.

It was a pretty versatile machine that wasn't afraid of a fight, offering everything from a small 1.8-liter engine to the MZR 2.3-liter turbo and 3.0-liter Ford V6. Even the gearboxes ranged from a 4-speed auto to a short-throw 6-speed stick.

We're currently at the 3rd generation, one which comes after the end of the Ford era. Thanks to the Skyactiv platform, it's still one of the lightest cars in the segment, even though it was introduced in late August 2012.

The wagon is no longer offered in the North American market due to low demand, but we kind of dig it after driving one with AWD and a 2.2-liter diesel engine a while back. And I don't know if you know this, but because Mazda views the sedan as an executive car in Japan, its wheelbase is 2.4 inches longer than the wagon's.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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