As Tastes Change, Mazda Stays Committed to Small, Fuel-Efficient Sedans
*By Carlo Versano*
Everywhere you look at the L.A. Auto Show, there are signs of the [changes](https://www.cheddar.com/videos/tesla-innovates-with-navigate-on-autopilot) roiling the automobile industry. Shiny electric concepts, new and bigger SUVs ー and then there's the Mazda booth. The Japanese automaker debuted a strikingly redesigned version of its workhorse compact sedan, the Mazda 3, which it wants customers to think of as an innovative extension of its brand ー even if the innovation is mostly under the hood.
Even as other sedan stalwarts like Ford ($F) and GM ($GM) have pulled out of the compact space, Mazda ($MZDAF) is doubling down. "When everybody goes zigging, we go zagging," said Masahiro Moro, president and CEO of Mazda North American Operations.
Moro told Cheddar that Mazda sees an iron-clad market for compact sedans, and it is working within that framework to make the 3 the new standard for that market segment ーespecially as those customers have fewer choices with the death of the Ford Fusion, Chevy Impala, and others.
Mazda was well-known for pioneering the use of rotary engines, which are small and powerful at the expense of notoriously bad fuel efficiency. But the new 3, which will hit showrooms in the spring with sedan and hatchback variations, will use Mazda's "SKYACTIV" technology to wring more efficiency from its four-liter engine. Mazda recently said it was electrifying portions of the rotary engine and would bring it back as a range extender for a new electric vehicle to debut next year.
Drivers will be able to feel the power of the engine while also knowing it's about as fuel-efficient as an internal combustion engine can be, according to Momo. He credits a "human-centric" approach to carmaking that differentiates Mazda from its competitors.
"Mazda produces emotion vehicles," Moro said. "We make cars for drivers."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/mazda3-makes-debut-at-l-a-auto-show).
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
