At the heart of the changes for 2022 is a newly improved version of their 1.5-liter Skyactiv-G engine. In line with the company’s goal to increase their fuel efficiency standards, the powerplant has been tweaked.

The 1.5-liter Skyactiv-G now gets a diagonal vortex combustion which bumps up the engine’s compression ratio from 12:1 to 14:1. Along with engine control technology from Skyactiv-X, it further improves the efficiency by 6.8 percent while also bumping up the power to 116 horsepower and 149 Nm of torque (up from 110 horsepower and 142 Nm of torque currently).

Celebrating the release of the revised powertrain in Japan, Mazda also announced a special spec Mazda2 which they call, “Sunlit Citrus.”

The exterior color is finished in Platinum Quartz Metallic, itself a new color for Mazda’s sub-compact, but inside, the color scheme changes to adopt both gray-like suede artificial leather with yellow trims (hence the same, Sunlit Citrus). The same bright yellow hue is also found on the key fob which happens to switch to the new Mazda key design.

Aside from the new colors and engine, the Mazda2, at least in Japan, now benefits from a 360-degree camera as standard, while Qi wireless charging and wireless Apple CarPlay are now available options.