Mazda Launches Freshened Verisa

A redesigned interior, fashionable body color and new accessories enhance the quality feel

HIROSHIMA - August 4, 2006: Mazda Motor Corporation has given a fresh new look to the high quality and fashionable Verisa compact, which goes on sale from today at Mazda, Mazda Anfini and Mazda Autozam dealers throughout Japan.

Thanks to its high-quality design and craftsmanship, the Verisa has gained a reputation as a compact car a cut above the rest. Originally launched in the Japanese market in June 2004, it has received high praise for its design, value and noise reduction attributes.

To upgrade the interior, the freshened Mazda Verisa features seats with brand new colors and materials, a high quality black metallic instrument panel and chrome-finish parts. In addition, all-new, fashionable exterior body colors have been introduced, such as the luminous "Crystal White Pearl Mica", the vivid "Passion Orange Mica" and the stark "Stormy Blue Mica." The exterior also has newly added chrome-finish parts and redesigned alloy wheels. To aid nighttime driving, new equipment has been installed, including indirect blue-LED interior lighting - which improves the ambience - and built-in lamps in the door mirrors which illuminate the ground when getting in and out of the vehicle.

Prices range from 1,560,000 yen - 1,849,000 yen ($13,559 - $16,070 USD equivilent), including consumption tax). The monthly sales target for the Japanese market is set at 1,500 units a month. Verisa is only available for sale in Japan.

Main features of the freshened Verisa Interior

Seats The L-model Verisa comes with full-leather, two-tone black and brown upholstery (changed from the half-leather design). The C-model adopts a textured, plain-woven material in two colors - a chic "dark red" and an "olive" color with a new hue. - Instrument panel/shift pedal The newly adopted black metallic panel has a beautiful luster. Also, chrome-finish parts were added to the air-conditioning knobs and the shift lever panel to further enhance the quality feel. - Door trim A soft pad, which is accented with stitches, and a bright molding were added to the door trim to attain a pleasant feel. The L-model is also equipped with a black metallic switch panel for a higher-quality texture.

Exterior

The exterior is furnished with an improved "dress-up package" (factory-installed options on the C-model, standard equipment on the L-model). Bright molding is employed on the front and rear bumpers and a bright bezel wraps the front fog lamps that heighten Verisa's fashionable characteristics. - 15-inch alloy wheels (factory-installed option) Curved surfaces are embedded on the spokes, embellishing the vehicles high-quality designs

Body colors Newly added to the Verisa's body color range are the new colors Passion Orange Mica and Stormy Blue Mica. Current Mazda body colors, Galaxy Gray Mica and Crystal White Pearl Mica, were also added to the body color range for a total of nine colors available for potential customers to choose from. Passion Orange Mica is an exclusive color for the revamped Verisa.

Special features The following are newly adopted as standard features. - Steering wheel with audio remote control switches (for all models except for the "audio-less" specification model). - Ground illumination lamps, which illuminate the ground next to the car when a door lock is released, are installed in the door mirrors (on all 2WD models). - Indirect blue LED lighting for the interior.

Other features The upgraded Verisa is equipped with the same powertrain as the current model. Fuel economy is 18.4 km/liter (17.2 km/liter for the e-4WD models) using the 10-15 mode test cycle. Like the prior model, the freshened Verisa meets the 2005 emission reduction standard of 75% (Super Ultra-Low Emission Level, SU-LEV).