We have one of the last generation Mazda 2's, and it is more Fusion in terms of size and practicality than Fiesta. Quote from HJ's review:

"Is it a Fiesta? Is it a Fusion? Confusion, it's a Mazda 2. Instead of offering two variations of the new Valencia Ford Fiesta, Ford offers three and calls one of them a Mazda. But unlike the old Mazda 121, which was no more than a badge-engineered Dagenham Fiesta, the Mazda 2 has been completely re-engineereed. And that's the point of it. At the back you get the lowest loading sill in the new Fiesta range. (Nearly as low as a Yaris Verso.) You get a fairly flat floor when you fold the seats, because Mazda sorted out the seat squab mechanism. You get a brighter, funkier interior. And you get a shopping car that's a lot more fun to drive than any Fiesta or Fusion."

The current Mazda 2 shares the same floorpan and diesel engine as the current Fiesta, but there the similarity ends. Similar story with the current Corsa and current Punto (which again share the same floorpan).

Edited by Auristocrat on 10/01/2012 at 17:27

It will probably boil down to value for money (equipment, etc), warranty, and price.

For example the Toyota Aygo, Peugeot107, Citroen C1 are all basically the same city car - using Toyota petrol engines and running gear. The 107 offers air conditioning on the revised base model for £ 7995 with a three year warranty. The Aygo with air conditioning is more expensive but comes with a five year manufacturers warranty. Outer panels are also different - so you get opinion differences on which people like/dislike.

The Suzuki Splash and Vauxhall Agila again are largely the same car. Trim, price and warranty differences separate the cars - eg. Suzuki warranty 3 yrs/60,000 miles, Vauxhall currently a Lifetime/100,000 miles warranty for the first owner (although Opel have dropped this warranty on the continent).

So when are the Journalists going to report how good one is against the other when they are both the same apart different wheels and badges.

Why do they try to fool us that one is better than the other, do they get backhanders ?

The same with the Suzuki Alto/Nissan model, and such as the Peugoet/Fiat/Citroen van range also the older Ford Fiesta/Mazda.

You've an over-simpified view of the motoring industry. What you're saying is because a vehicle shares a platform, it's the same as all the others.

A Kia C'eed is the sister car of the i30, but they're really quite different. They don't drive the same at all. The Octavia share a platform with the Golf and A3. Same? No. Mk3 Mondeo and Jag X-Type share a platform, and they're very, very different.

My folks have an old-shape Mazda 2 (the Fusion-like one). It has a Mazda MZR engine, not a Ford. The dash is Mazda (complete with baffling Japanese stereo with Minidisc!), and it drives totally differently to the Fusion. The 2 has really sporty setup for a car driven by OAPs like my parents.

Long gone are the days of the 121/Fiesta where they did nothing but stick on a different badge in the factory.