What's all this about?

Prices for the all-new Mazda2 range have been revealed; it'll cost between £11,995 and £17,395 when it goes on sale early next year. There are five model grades - SE, SE-L, SE-L Nav, Sport and Sport Nav - plus four 1.5-litre engines; 75-, 90- and 115hp petrol or a 105hp diesel.

Any special deals available?

To mark the arrival of the model a special £14,995 Mazda2 Sports Launch Edition will be offered. Priced at the same level as the 90hp Sport, it includes seven-inch touch screen navigation and the no-cost option of metallic, mica or pearlescent paint, which is usually a £530 extra.

What's new?

The big news is the availability of in-car connectivity, MZD Connect, through a seven-inch touch screen offered from the £13,995 Mazda2 SE-L 90hp model. It is designed to interface with Apple and Android smartphones to provide a range of personalised and location-based content, social networking services plus message readout functions. DAB digital radio is also included in the package, the first time this service is available in a Mazda2.

What about the rest of the range?

Standard equipment includes electric door mirrors, Hill Hold Assist, tyre pressure monitoring and air conditioning. The SE-L adds 15-inch alloys, Bluetooth and cruise control with speed limiter. Sport models come with 16-inch alloys, sports cloth trim and climate control. Nav models feature an improved navigation system promising greater accuracy, better search features and three years of free map updates.

Mazda says the weight in the Mazda2 has been reduced by seven per cent to improve fuel consumption and reduce emissions. The economy champion is the diesel model, which manages 83.1mpg on the EU combined cycle with CO₂ emissions of 89g/km, whilst the thirstiest model is the 115hp Sport Nav at 56.5mpg and 117g/km.