Auto News 5

If you have a pulse and access to the Internet these days (the latter doesn't always require the former), you've probably been exposed quite a bit to the Ford Fiesta. The little Ford has been all over Youtube, Twitter, and (shameless plug alert) our own web site. But the Fiesta isn't the only hot subcompact launching this summer. No, we're also being introduced to its cute older sibling, the Mazda 2. Back in 2007, Mazda introduced its slick-looking, youth-friendly hatchback on the same B-segment platform that would spawn the Fiesta. It proved a huge hit in Europe, surpassing 100,000 sales in its first year on the market, and was named World Car of the Year for 2008. We liked it enough to conduct a rare European Four Seasons test on one, and called it a "great car for tough times." But until recently, there were no plans for the car to make it to our market, despite the steadily growing demand for budget-friendly subcompacts. Now Mazda, all but cut off from its sugar daddy in Dearborn (Ford still retains an 13.8 percent share), has decided to crash the Fiesta's party by launching the 2 here this summer.