Mazda is on the cusp of unveiling an all-new Mazda3, but the compact will mark an important milestone before that happens. The very first Mazda3 rolled off of the assembly line on June 25, 2003. A decade later, the little car has snagged some 136 awards. The first generation sold 2.2 million units over the span of six years, and the second has smiled its way into the hearts of 1.4 million buyers since 2009. Mazda notes the machine even took the honour of being the top-selling passenger car in Australia in 2011 and 2012.

So, what will the future bring? The Japanese automaker is keeping the details to itself for the moment. From the spy photos we've seen, it looks as if the new design will fall under the company's new Kodo design philosophy.

The 2nd model, which followed in 2009, was designed under the Sustainable Zoom-Zoom umbrella, Mazda's strategy to build increasingly lighter, more fuel efficient and safer vehicles with no compromises to Mazda's patented driving fun and reliability. And the second-generation Mazda3 was certainly exhilarating, with an inspirational sporty look and even further advanced performance and handling, but at the same time more eco-friendly than ever thanks to unique technology like i-stop, the idle-stop system still delivering the world's fastest restarts today.
It set a few safety benchmarks, too, with cutting-edge active safety technology like Rear Vehicle Monitoring*, which received a Euro NCAP Advanced Award and was the first such system whatsoever in the segment, and the Adaptive Front-lighting System*. Consequently, the Mazda3 was given top safety ratings around the globe, including the maximum five-stars from Euro NCAP.

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