Mazda5

The Mazda5 is a passenger car, constructed by Mazda, the leading automaker in Japan. The Mazda5 is the second generation vehicle of Mazda, which was sold outside Japan. The Mazda 5 was assembled in Taiwan by Ford Lio Ho, the automaker in Taiwan, who also assembled Maxda5 for the local Japanese market. The Mazda5 comes with three rows of seats and the cabin is designed to accommodate a maximum of six passengers. The Mazda5 features near-flat floors, removable or folding second row, and fold-flat back seats.

The Mazda5 has been currently sold in all markets excluding Japan. While categorized by Mazda as a mid-sized car, it contends with other vehicles categorized as compact multipurpose vehicles in Europe, and are treated as a mini-minivan in America. The Mazda5 is derived from the global C1 platform of Ford, which means that it shares a lot of parts with the Mazda3. The Mazda5 restored the Mazda multipurpose vehicle as the minivan of Mazda, offering in nearly all export markets.

The closest relative of Mazda5 is the Ford Focus C-MAX, the European compact multipurpose vehicle, although the Mazda5 exploits minivan-style sliding doors in the back whereas the Ford has four traditional front-hinged doors. This model of the Mazda5 was also launched for sale in America, making it the primary compact minivan in the United States market since the 1994 Mitsubishi Expo in 1994, held in the United States and 1995 model Nissan Axxess in Canada. The Mazda5 is slightly bigger than the 1984 to 1989 Toyota Van. Antagonism joined the North American multipurpose vehicle market during 2006 with the B200 of Mercedes-Benz in Mexico and Canada.

In North America, owing to safety rules, the Mazda5 accommodates six passengers by making use of three rows of seats, at the rate of two seats for each row. Elsewhere, the Mazda5 is marketed as a seven seat passenger car, using the Karakuri Seating configuration of Mazda, which means the sedan is designed with three rows of two seats, with the 7th seat a fold up jump seat in the middle of the second row. The Mazda5 comes with triple-point seat belts on all its seven seats. The middle row seats recline and glide front-to-back, and fold even. The back row folds flat, as well.

Mazda was enforced to recall the Mazda5 in America soon after production started, owing to a threat of exhaust system fires, revealed by Curtis Lee, a US Mazda engineer. Owners that were not acquainted with the sport mode of the four-speed automatic transmission would erroneously put down the shifter in that position, causing high temperatures as the sedan would stay in second gear. The solution of Mazda was to include a heat guard around the muffler and to change the software of the vehicle to disallow high engine speeds excessively beyond a short time period in the sport mode.

Even though the five-paced manual transmission outfitted sedans would seemingly not require to be recalled, Mazda decided to retrofit all Mazda5 models with the new software an parts. The business also offered 500 USD to customers in addition to a loaner sedan while the problem was diminished.