While the Mazda CX-3 may have the same basic platform and running gear as the new 2 supermini, you’d be hard pressed to tell.

It’s only when you climb aboard and see the nearly identical interior that you begin to notice it – the design and materials are the same, even though the latter includes few soft-touch surfaces.

The CX-3’s first video road test was conducted in Australia, by CarAdvice. As with all recent Mazdas, all reviewers rave on about the pretty styling, road manners and efficiency. All these parameters are still relevant with the CX-3, as it reportedly drives as well as we’ve come to expect from the brand, it looks (subjectively) better than the CX-5 and being supermini-based, it still returns good economy numbers.

The only niggle that’s pointed out is that the materials don’t feel so great on the surfaces you don’t normally touch, like the top of the doors or lower down on the dash. You can easily overlook this, though, since the design is quite fluid looking and pleasant.

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