Spy Shots (Sort of): Mazda3 five-door hatchback

The styling of the new mazda3 is generally pretty good, with one notable and extremely controversial element: that happy-go-lucky smiling face. Still, we've yet to get an official uncovered glimpse of the upcoming 5-door hatch, so there may still be some surprises up Mazda's sleeve. Today we discovered the odd batch of "official spy shots" straight from the horse's mouth, Mazda that is. They show the upcoming hatchback as it sheepishly plays peek-a-boo with its sedan sibling through some beautiful European scenery. From what we can tell, that blissfully chipper visage is alive and well on the 5-door. The rest of the details, unfortunately, are still pretty obscured by all that effective black vinyl clothing.
When it finally is debuted at the 2008 Bologna Motorshow in Italy next month, the hatch's engine options should basically mirror those of the sedan's, which means the U.S. will initially get both a 148-horsepower 2.0L and a larger 167-horse 2.5L version of the MZR four cylinder engine. Could a Mazdaspeed3 be far behind?

[ Source: Autoblog (Mazda) ]

• Mazda3 hatch unveiled, will debut next week