Next-gen Mazda2 to ride on CX-5 platform

Mazda's next-generation Mazda2 subcompact will ride on a shortened version of the platform that underpins the CX-5 crossover, a new report finds.

According to just-auto, Mazda will move its 2 city car from its current DE platform – which also underpins the Ford Fiesta – to an architecture shared with the Mazda CX-5 and larger Mazda6 sedan. The switchover will allow Mazda to share parts and powertrains between vehicles, reducing the automaker's overall costs.

The Mazda3 compact will also join the Mazda2 on the CX-5's platform in the near future.

Mazda's next-generation 2 – along with the next 3 – will be built at the company's new production facility in Salamanca, Mexico, beginning in 2014. Given that timeframe, we should see the all-new, CX-5-based Mazda2 by the end of this year.

Mazda has agreed to build an upcoming subcompact car for Toyota in Salamanca, so it stands to reason that that vehicle will also be built on the CX-5 platform.