Mazda will introduce its B-segment Mazda2 to the U.S. market this August, joining an increasingly crowded subcompact field and hot on the heals of Ford’s similar Fiesta.

Mazda’s entry in this class will feature a 100-horsepower, 1.5-liter I-4 engine with either a 4-speed automatic or a 5-speed manual. In keeping with Mazda’s goal of “adding lightness” to its cars, the Mazda2 weighs in at a svelte 2300 pounds making it (just barely) one of the lightest cars in its class. The combination of older engine and transmission designs yields a very good, but not class-leading, fuel economy rating of 29city/35highway (manual) or 27/33 (automatic). As with the rest of its line, Mazda will be touting performance over fuel economy.

Comparisons with the Ford Fiesta are inevitable but the Mazda2 is aimed at a slightly different buyer than Ford is shooting for. Its lighter weight should make it a little more entertaining to drive, even if the Fiesta’s more modern engine and automatic transmission turn in better gas mileage. The Mazda2 will also be marketed in a narrower range of pricing levels. The base model will be closer to the Fiesta SE in content and price, but with fewer high-tech options available -- and no leather option -- it will top out considerably cheaper than the most expensive Fiesta.

American buyers have not always embraced cars this small but the choices available today are more attractive than in the past and interest in fuel economy is stronger than before. Keep your eye on this one.

--M.D.

The Detroit News reports that year-to-date truck sales are racing along with renewed vigor so far and that could be good news for the overall economy.

Buyers snapped up 151,000 new trucks in May, a 19% increase over last year. Ford was again the big winner with substantional gains in both their F-150 and newly redesigned Super Duty lines, though Chevy and Ram are also posting increases.

Some of the increase seems to come from long-delayed vehicle replacement on the part of contractors and other commercial buyers. A lagging economy and weak credit market caused many of them to keep trucks in their fleets longer and the strong sales so far this year are taken as a sign of confidence that the economy is on a growth trend.

--M.D.

One measure of the health of an auto maker is the residual value, or resale value, of its cars after 3 years. Higher values indicate greater buyer confidence in a manufacturers products.

Automotive Lease Guide analyzes residual values at the 36 month mark and says that Ford and GM have improved considerably over the past five years. In 2005 values for the U.S. brands typically were less than 40% after 36 months while today Ford branded passenger cars are showing 48.8% with Chevrolet at 42.5%. Japanese makes still top the charts with Mazda at 54.1%, Subaru at 54%, Honda at 53.7% and Toyota at 51%.

Residual value can be affected by a number of factors, most of which are within a car maker’s ability to control. In the past, Detroit typically would keep factories humming at full capacity and then offer large sales incentives to retail customers and/or shuttle excess production off to rental fleets, both of which reduce the resale value. These days they try to match production more closely to demand, instead.

Overall confidence in a company’s products can also boost value. Ford is riding high in public opinion as the quality of its cars improves and it continues introducing interesting new models. The fact that it did not seek Federal bailout money probably helps, as well.

Toyota’s residual value figures have remained flat over the past five years. Analysts believe that this has more to do with the recall crises that the company has endured than the unusually generous incentives that it has been offering recently.

--M.D.

(source: Automotive News)

May auto sales numbers are in and, overall, the industry’s recovery is now in its sixth month.

Among domestic manufacturers, Chrysler posted the largest percentage gain, boosting sales by 32.8%, mostly among Dodge brand vehicles. (It should be noted, however, that Chrysler’s fleet sales have risen dramatically over the past few months.) Ford was next with a 22.2% gain and GM was up 17.5%.

Most Asian brands that sell in the U.S. also posted gains in May. The notable exception was Suzuki which continues losing ground in a growth market with a 26% drop in sales. The greatest gains came from Mazda and Subaru with 35.2% each, followed by Isuzu at 32.3%, Hyundai Group (which includes Kia) at 27.7% and Nissan at 24.1%. Honda sales jumped 19.1% and Toyota trailed the rest of the pack with a mere 6.7% increase. Perhaps more significant for Toyota is the bad news that its market share dropped again from 16.5% down to 14.8%.

European brands were a mixed bag with Daimler (+22%) and Volkswagen (+21%) posting increases and BMW (-3.9%), Porsche (-5.4%) and Saab (-77.8%!) showing declines.

Overall, the U.S. market was up 19.2%, continuing a trend that appears to have begun last December. This summer car makers will be up against sales figures from last year’s “Cash For Clunkers” program which caused a significant blip in sales but which also produced a big dip in the charts when it was over.