The new 2018 Mazda6 has been revealed at the LA Motor Show overnight with tweaks to the suspension, seats and infotainment.

AT THE REVEAL of the Mazda6 overnight, the Japanese car maker announced its new sedan was crafted to compete in a class above “at a price that is readily affordable, offering a depth of engagement with its owner that satisfies at every touch point.

“With vehicles like these, it is Mazda’s goal to enrich people’s lives through a car ownership experience that celebrates driving, and to become a brand with which customers feel a strong emotional connection.

“New Mazda6 certainly delivers all of the above, elevating Mazda6 from its traditional competitive set into a higher class, with unparalleled craftsmanship, design and technologies for the driver who savours every moment behind the wheel. Yet, Mazda6 is also serene, thoroughly reworked underneath its sheet metal to deliver a refined experience befitting of a far more expensive car,” Mazda said. We shall see.

On the inside, Mazda said it had borrowed design elements from Japanese temples, like the colour of the leather which it claims hints at the aged wood in “ancient Japanese temples”. Or the “subtle gold tint” on the suede trim which borrows from a “similar technique to that which is used to make ornate kimonos”.

The interior is mostly all new, with only the steering wheel and some small pieces of trim carried over from its predecessor. The front and rear seats are new with the seat back of the front seats designed to keep passenger’s spine in their “natural S-shape humans use when standing”.

The infotainment has been tweaked but there’s still no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. The updated Mazda6 will offer a 360-degree around view monitor which is fast becoming the norm, as well as Mazda Radar Cruise Control with Stop & Go standard across the range along with Lane-keep Assist System (LAS), Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR) and Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA).

Borrowing from the 2017 Vision Coupe, the new Mazda6 features a design language the brand is calling Mature Elegance which builds on the KODO-Soul of Motion design language. There’s a new grille at the front, LED headlights and new 17- to 19-inch alloys. Soul Red will now be available for the first time on the Mazda6 – it debuted on the MX-5.

Locally, there will be three engines available, the SKYACTIV-G 2.5 naturally-aspirated four-cylinder which now gets cylinder deactivation. “Cylinder deactivation in a four-cylinder engine, enables the outside two cylinders to shut down when the vehicle is operating at steady speeds between 40 and 80 km/h, but all four cylinders work instantaneously when needed for maximum performance,” Mazda said.

GT and Atenza models will feature Mazda’s award-winning turbocharged SKYACTIV-G 2.5T engine as standard. This engine debuted in the current-generation Mazda CX-9 and offers 170kW and 420Nm of torque from just 2000rpm, and on 91RON fuel. Mazda will continue to offer its diesel engine on Touring variants and up. All engines are mated to a six-speed automatic transmission.

Mazda’s engineers have stiffened the chassis, thickened the sheet metal used for the body panels, moved the steering rack and mounted it direct to the chassis to improve steering feel and revised the suspension geometry. Mazda said its changes to the suspension and insulation will see the new Mazda6 offer similar levels of quietness as the CX-9.

No pricing or final specifications were released.