2017 Tokyo Motor Show: 2018 Mazda 3 images leaked ahead of official reveal

LEAKED images have given us our first look at the 2018 Mazda 3, the car that will introduce a new generation of fuel-saving Skyactiv technology to the small hatch and sedan range.

Sharply styled, edgy but minimalist inside and hinting at its dynamic strength, the set of Mazda Kai Concept images leaked on a Belgian website show a concept version of the car that has, at times, ranked as the top-selling vehicle in Australia – take away fleet sales, and the Mazda 3 is one of the best-performing cars among private buyers.

Looking something like a shrunken-down Mazda RX-Vision concept, the Kei is likely to evolve into the Mazda-badged model that introduces Skyactiv-X, a high-compression petrol engine that can act like a diesel engine, ditching the spark plug in the interests of reducing fuel use and emissions.

“Dynamic performance has been dramatically refined and next-generation design condensed to create Mazda’s ideal compact hatchback,” Mazda says.

Down the back, the Kai concept hints at the Alfa Romeo Brera, itself a seductive design.

Making its debut alongside the Mazda Kai Concept will be what the car maker calls its “next-generation design vision”, a four-door, fastback-styled sedan that “embodies the concepts that will define the next generation of Mazda design, resulting in a more profound expression of the globally-acclaimed KODO design language Mazda debuted on the Mazda CX-5 in 2012”.

Mazda will also show an updated MX-5 RF, the hard-topped version of the two-seat roadster.

The media day for the Tokyo Motor Show starts today.