The Mazda 2 Is Dead In Europe

Pour one out, everyone, for the Mazda 2. Well, sort of – you can still buy a Mazda 2 Hybrid, but that’s just a Toyota Yaris Hybrid with Mazda badges. We’re talking about the other 2, the one that’s been on sale since 2015, but has just been dropped in Europe.

That lifespan made it one of the oldest cars still on sale, but its number’s finally up. Mazda UK confirmed the news to Car Throttle in a statement. It explained that despite the old car remaining popular with over 4000 examples shifted in the UK last year, the Toyota-based 2 Hybrid “meets consumer demand in the B-segment and is a step in our journey to ensure all our cars have some form of electrification by 2030.”

If we were to be more speculative, plenty of other smaller cars have died of late thanks to a combination of greater demand for crossovers, slimmer profit margins on cheaper models and regulatory pressure, but we’d imagine the 2’s advancing years also played into the decision to cull it.

Its age, though, was what made it such a likeable car. Hailing from the last era before the total screenification of car interiors, overly intrusive ADAS systems and the weight of everything swelling alarmingly, the 2’s brilliance lay in its simplicity.

You got a simple analogue rev counter, proper physical dials for the HVAC, and even with its later 88bhp mildly hybridised e-Skyactiv 1.5-litre powertrain, it weighed just 1037kg. Not even an Alpine A110 weighs that little, and being light is that car’s whole thing.

Paired with a manual gearbox that swapped cogs with typical Mazda loveliness, the little 2 was one of the last holdouts for the small, light, simple hatchback, and a reminder of just how sweet that sort of car can be. For that reason, we’ll miss it dearly. If this news has made you suddenly crave one too, you’re not totally out of luck – Mazda has confirmed that limited numbers are still available new as dealer stock.