2009 Mazda6 for the US

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It seems quite different than the European model.
Maybe even better looking. At least compared to the Euro sedan version.

We’ll know much more very soon.

Click on the title for the whole thing from Autoblog.

Conversation 24 comments

  1. Quite honestly, I don’t see the point of making different versions of this car for different markets. What’s the reasoning behind it, if global models have been working just fine for Mazda for years. And also, I don’t think this US version looks better than the Euro version. The styling changes make it look like a smaller, cheaper car.

  2. What if you’re getting just a facelifted model? Remember the last 626? Europe got a completely new design, but America got a facelift of the old one…

  3. I do like it but I gotta say the front is weird looking. I thought the headlights looked a little small on the euro version but on this American version they look tiny and the grill looks enormously wide. I got over it on the Euro version but on this one uuummmmm I don’t know…..the front is kind of a dissappointment. I hope it’s the camera angle that is making it look so weird. The rest of the car looks really good though. I love the exhaust pipe outlets. Any OFFICIAL word on whether or not there will be a hatch or not? For me, no hatch, no deal. I’m not paying a premium price for a basic sedan when I can get almost the same thing with the new Milan/Fusion, when they come out, for thousands less.

  4. Although we don’t get the same Tail lights as the rest of the world….looks like we still get the LEDs? That’s fair at least!

  5. I think I like the Euro version better. Sadly, ours is not from Hiroshima, but made like guys such as the one in that photo.

  6. Hmmm. It’s not really that much of a departure from the New Atenza I actually like the rear of our version better than the Atenza. However the atenza gets a bolder face and is more futuristic. I like the Atenza headlamp and Foglamp placement and the honeycomb grille. I guess we get a better ass, and they get a better face.

  7. The rear one shows a nice front fender bulge but then the front fascia is too weak. the lights look weird to me.

    the exhaust is a nice touch but then i didn’t like the front fog lights recess in a different color surround.

  8. What a mess. To me this looks like a combination of too many giant, over stylized surfaces. Those tail lights look glued onto the rear fender/trunk area…which is already an intersection of about 7 angles. The lights (front and rear) seem too small, while the fenders are grossly over sized. I was hoping for a bigger, slightly more stylish version of the current 3. Suddenly the Accord doesn’t look so bad…

  9. The headlamps are cheapened and appear too small, but I think that is a result of that horrible grill insert that does not have the class or presence of the euro/JDM Atenza version. Also the foglamp placement makes teh front look fat and dopey. I seriously hope that this is only the low level model and they offer a sport treatment with the euro/JDM styling que’s, because before I thought I really wanted one of these, but from the pics I’d say I’ll maybe pass.

  10. I like the side profile a lot. The exhaust pipes are fantastic, but I’m not loving the feathery tail lamps. My immediate reaction to them is that they look like the lights from the rear of an old Solara. I’m also not a fan of the headlamps, which look disproportionate to the grille. We shall see.

  11. our version is ugly. why do they have to mess up the lines in both the front and the back? the european version looks tight and muscular. our version has a bunch of concave surfaces in the rear that don’t fit well with the rest the car and makes the car look like it lacks confidence. the original atenza looked way better than our original mazda6 too.

  12. HUGE mistake on Mazda’s part. The new Mazda 6 for North America looks frumpy, with awkward proportions. Mazda could have simply given us the Euro 6 over here which is a good design and instead we get an inferior design.

    Bad move Mazda. Looks like Ford’s incompetence is creeping over into Mazda.

  13. The reason we’re probably not getting the Euro version is that it’s smaller than the competition, a big thing that’s kept the Mazda 6 from seriously taking on the Camry/Accord twins. Honda learned this 2-3 generations ago when they found out that a TSX-sized Accord doesn’t compete particularly well against the Camry.

    That said, the US-spec Mazda 6 definitely didn’t come out as good at the Euro version. Econocar front, Lexus IS/Olds Alero bits at the back. Odd.

  14. Ugh. I’m really getting sick of Mazda trying to make everything look like the already-outdated RX-8with goofy headlights and cheesy over-flared fenders. Why can’t they just give us the Euro version?

  15. They could have just taken the Euro Design and stretched it a little….would have saved AND made them money!

  16. I like the US tail lites. From what I’ve read, the front sheetmetal differences are due to not needing the pedestrian protection but needing room for the v6. The foglites need to be LEDs, at least for the top trim.
    Glad the wait to see it is almost over!!!

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