Mazda will preview its forthcoming Mazda1 city car at this year’s Paris Motor Show in September through a close to production concept car that will employ all the styling cues shown in the Taiki, Ryuga, Hakaze and Furai into a minicar package. The production version of the Mazda1 that will slot right under the new Mazda2 is expected to hit the market by 2010. According to reports, the Japanese carmaker will also unveil a compact 4×4 crossover concept at the Moscow Motor Show later this year. Like the Mazda1, the CUV will also be themed after Mazda’s provocative Nagare prototypes. The crossover is said to be designed specifically for the booming Russian car market which is on course to overtake Germany as the biggest market in Europe.

Mazda is introducing the three-door variant of its all-new Mazda2 supermini in the UK this month, with a starting price of £7,999. The only significant difference between the 3-door and 5-door versions of new Mazda2 is the rear seat shoulder room, which is 25mm larger in the 5-door model. At launch, the Mazda2 3dr will be offered with a 1.3-litre petrol engine in two power outputs (75 and 86ps), and a 1.4-litre 68ps diesel The 1.5-litre 103ps petrol engine will be available from the end of July.

The funky oversized headlamps, expansive greenhouse, and stylish frenched taillamps are the work of Iwao Koizumi, designer of the original Atenza (Mazda6 outside Japan) and CX-7.

Mazda announced the Biante earlier this week, and details are still a bit thin thin. According to the automaker, the new people-mover’s name is derived from the word “ambient” and will deliver the most interior space in its class when it goes on sale later this summer.