New Mazda6 Wins 'Eco Car Award' at Scottish Car of the Year

LONDON, October 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

• New Mazda6 2.2-litre 150ps diesel models win 'Eco Car Award' at 2013 SCOTY event
• Judges praise new Mazda6's 'no compromise' approach to space, comfort and practicality
• Choice of 24 new Mazda6 diesel models priced from £21,995 (on the road)

Mazda's ground-breaking new Mazda6, which features the Japanese brand's fuel-saving SKYACTIV technology, has won the 2013 Eco Car Award at the annual Scottish Car of the Year (SCOTY) awards ceremony, held in Glasgow yesterday (Friday) evening.

The popular new Mazda6 2.2-litre 150ps diesel which claimed the Eco Car Award, delivers fuel economy up to 67.3mpg (combined cycle) and CO₂ emissions from 108g/km - ensuring that Mazda customers benefit every day from the company's 'defy convention' approach to engineering. This automotive philosophy guarantees outstanding performance, as well as great fuel economy together with low CO₂ emissions, without having to downsize engine capacity.

In Scotland, the new Mazda6 tourer and saloon models were also ranked as 'runner up' in the Estate and Family categories of SCOTY by the 15-judges who are members of the Association of Scottish Motoring Writers (ASMW).

ASMW President Alisdair Suttie commented: "Who said saving money has to be dull?  Not us, and this year's eco award winner disproves this assumption completely. The new Mazda6 demonstrates that frugality doesn't mean having to compromise on space, comfort and practicality, or any of the other attributes that make up the ideal family transport."

New Mazda6 buyers can select from 36 saloon and tourer models, with prices ranging from £19,595 to £28,295 on-the-road (OTR). There is a choice of petrol or diesel power (from 145ps to 175ps), and six-speed manual or automatic transmissions - depending on model. All the SKYACTIV powertrains available with new Mazda6 are fitted with Mazda's unique fuel-saving idle-stop system, i-stop, which delivers the fastest restarts in the industry: 0.35 seconds (petrol engines) and 0.40 seconds (diesel).

"Mazda's unique SKYACTIV technology is genuinely ground-breaking, enabling us to create best-in-class award-winning vehicles like the new Mazda6, a fact that has now been acknowledged by the presentation of this 2013 Eco Car Award in Scotland - the eighth award new Mazda6 has received since going on sale in January," comments Peter Allibon, Sales Director, Mazda UK.

"Earlier this year the new Mazda6 saloon also beat off strong competition to win the 'Best Family Car' category at the annual Auto Express New Car Awards. New Mazda6 was our first car to feature the full KODO-Soul of Motion design language and the first to be available with Mazda's truly innovative i-ELOOP regenerative braking system which can deliver an additional fuel saving of up to 10 per cent fuel, depending on driving conditions," adds Allibon.

Last month, the new Mazda6 received a 5-Star safety rating in the latest Euro NCAP tests, the highest rating possible. Now officially one of the safest cars on the road in Britain, the new Mazda6 result endorses Mazda's strategy of enhancing the safety of all its new vehicles by introducing innovations such as the impact-absorbing SKYACTIV-Body technology.

Both the new Mazda6 saloon and tourer scored top marks in all four Euro NCAP test categories - adult occupant protection, child occupant protection, safety assist systems and pedestrian safety - after undergoing several crash tests.

"The new Mazda6 saloon and tourer line-up offers customers a remarkably compelling ownership proposition, thanks to its excellent fuel economy, low emissions, typically Mazda fun-to-drive performance, high specifications, attractive pricing, low running costs and excellent residual values," concludes Allibon.