the protege5 and the standard protege will be discontinued for the 2005 model year and replaced with a new series of car called the Mazda3. The naming is part of Mazda's effort to go back to the numbering scheme (323, 626, 929, et al.) and make it universal worldwide rather than market the car under so many different nameplates.
The car will come in a five door hatchback and four door sedan variant and will offer the MZR 2.3 liter four cylinder engine currently sold in the base Mazda6i sedan. The engine, suspension, steering and transmission components will be all Mazda, with numerous other platform compnents being shared with the new Ford Focus replacement and new Volvo compact car. Mazda has promised significant tweaks and platform adjustments to ensure that the car has a "mazda feel" that differentiates it from the Ford and Volvo variants.
the concept version of this car was called the Mazda MX Sportif. There is a thread in the Mazda3 section of this forum that has links to pictures of it.
