Sector: Lower medium Price: £19,245 Fuel: 68.9mpg CO2: 107g/km

The new Mazda3 is longer, lower, wider, more refined, faster, more efficient, more responsive, higher quality and better looking than its predecessor. So will it be able to compete more effectively in fleet?

The previous car just couldn’t get any traction in the corporate market, mainly because it never seemed to be one thing or the other: not cheap enough to be a job-need volume hatch, but not stylish and high quality enough to be a user chooser favourite.

It doesn't look like this model will be piled high on fleets either, because it stands almost no chance of becoming a job need special, as it is too powerful, and maybe too good looking as well.

With the muscular long lines of the excellent Mazda6 transferred very successfully to the smaller car, it’s a refreshing change to see a mainstream car that doesn’t follow the ubiquitous aesthetic of thick-set Germanic solidity. This could help set it apart for those looking to spend a monthly allowance on a car of their choice.

There are effectively three petrol engines: a 1.5-litre which will barely sell in the UK, and a 2.0-litre SKYACTIV in tunes of 120 and 165bhp.

But for fleets, it’s the diesel that will pique most interest. The entry level SE has a list price nearly £2,500 lower than an equivalent Golf with similar power and emissions output, at 150bhp and 107g/km, and has parity on on-the-road price with a Focus, while being more powerful and better specced. However, Mazda will never be able to offer the fleet discounts of the volume manufacturers, so it’s competition is more likely to be with cars such as the former.

And it can compete with the Golf: the twin turbo diesel is engaging to drive, although you have to treat it like a petrol motor. With the lowest compression ratio for any diesel engine, there’s less of that instant, excitable torque most diesels have. So the Mazda3 needs revs, especially in second or third, or it starts to grumble and bog.

But it revs cleanly and offers up enough acceleration to keep it barrelling along at a pretty pace. As always with Mazda, the gearbox is tight and accurate, and the steering light and precise and it handles well.

The cabin just about passes muster. It’s an improvement over the previous car but still feels a step below the German brands, with some of the materials not of the highest quality.

Where Mazda has spent a lot of time is in driver distraction. It has created a new human-machine interface (HMI) featuring an innovative set of displays and controls.

The most vital information is positioned to enable the driver to read it with negligible eye movement, distinguished between a safe-driving zone in front of them and an infotainment zone to the side. The various controls follow this model, too, with a consistent design and layout for each zone to distinguish their respective purposes.

Around 10,000 units a year are expected to be sold to start with, with a third going to fleet. If there was a 1.6 diesel with sub 100g/km that number, and share, would be much higher. It’s a hole in the range that Mazda needs to address, because for all the clever SKYACTIV tech, drivers increasingly want low power, and the lowest possible emissions.

Also, it now means alongside the CX-5 and Mazda6, Mazda has a strong core range to offer to businesses which means more likelihood to get on choice lists. The question will be whether employees choose it over the ubiquitous Golf.

Verdict:

The Mazda3 is a now a credible user chooser car that looks great, drives well and is well-priced. But an even lower emissions and economy special wouldn’t go amiss.