Knocking its rivals for six

Mazda launches updated 6 saloon and tourer.

Mazda’s new 6 saloon and estate go on sale at the end of this week.

Priced from £23,195, the updated versions of the car will be in dealerships from Friday July 20.

The £23,195 tag buys you an entry level saloon – the estate model starts at £24,095.

Those prices are for cars equipped with a 143bhp 2.0 litre petrol engine.

It’s also available in 163bhp guise from £25,995, while a top-of-the-range 2.5litre Skyactiv-G petrol unit – offered in Britain for the first time – delivers 191bhp and comes in cars starting at £30,795.

Higher end versions of the engines switch from four to two cylinder operation when less power is needed, giving a boost to fuel economy.

Prices stretch to £33,585, with the tourer averaging a price premium of around £2,000 across a range which features SE-L Nav+, SE-L LUX Nav+, Sport Nav+ and GT Sport Nav+ trim grades.

Among the design changes to the 2018 Mazda 6 is a fresh front-end design focused on a new grille, revised LED headlights and a redesigned lower bumper.

At the rear, the saloon has a remodelled boot lid, while both the saloon and tourer feature cleaner rear bumper styling with more body coloured areas.

New alloy wheel designs and the introduction of Soul Red Crystal Metallic paint, which adopts Mazda’s three-layer painting technology to increase its brightness – by approximately 20% and depth by 5%, it is claimed – have also been introduced.

Inside a larger eight inch centre display screen and the adoption of a full colour driving display that’s projected onto the windscreen have both been added to the specification along with redesigned dash and door trim designs.

Mazda says the seats are ventilated and feature more supportive foam than before.

All models come with a suite of safety features that include blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist.

The updated Mazda 6 saloon and estate arrive in dealerships on Friday.