"The Mazda3, which constitutes approximately 53 percent of Mazda's total sales, has been near the top of the Canadian sales charts in both 2011 and 2010, so it's not surprising that Mazda leads the mainstream list with a substantial margin of 12 points above the second ranked brand," states Geoff Helby, Regional Director for ALG CaMazdada. Overall, ALG found differences between the results from the

inaugural PQS survey in Canada, in comparison to ALG's Used

Statistical Brand Value (USBV) ranking for both the Mainstream

and Luxury brands. The PQS survey represents consumer's

perception about brands in the market, whereas the USBV rankings

measure brand equity according to factual used market

data of 1-5 year old vehicles.

For mainstream brands, Mazda tops the list with a margin of 12

points above second ranked GMC. With the Mazda3 being the

third best-selling car in 2011 YTD, as well as the second bestselling

car overall in 2010, it is not surprising that Canadian

consumers ranked Mazda highly on the list.

In addition, the Canadian PQS determined the top three brands

consumers are considering purchasing for their next vehicles are

Ford cars (28%), Honda (25%) and Toyota (25%).

Mazda has taken the next vital step in improving the overall fuel efficiency of their vehicles with the introduction of i-ELOOP, the world’s first regenerative braking system for passenger vehicles that uses a capacitor.

This innovation by the Japanese automaker is said to improve real-world fuel economy by approximately 10%. It will debut in the Mazda TAKERI concept at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show before appearing in production models next year.

Photo: Mazda

Much like any other regenerative braking system, i-ELOOP captures kinetic energy as the vehicle decelerates and uses the converted power to reduce the load on the gas engine. However, unlike hybrid and electric vehicles, it does so through a double-layer capacitor instead of an electric motor and dedicated battery.

The capacitor can be charged and drained within seconds and resists deterioration through prolonged use – a major advantage over traditional regenerative systems.

i-ELOOP also teams up with Mazda’s start/stop technology to keep the engine off longer.

Rather than developing alternative powertrains, the company is committed to improving the efficiency of internal combustion engines, first with a number of SKYACTIV technologies, and now i-ELOOP.