Mazda currently sells an all-wheel drive 253 PS / 434 Nm turbocharged variant of the Mazda 3 hatchback in USA, Canada, and Mexico. The Mazda 3 Turbo a successor to the Mazda 3 MPS in all but name.

Unfortunately for the rest of the world, this model is only available in North America. Even fans in Mazda’s home market in Japan don’t get this option.

The reason? Poor demand and strict exhaust emission regulations.

In the right-hand drive sphere of the motoring world, Mazda Australia, which is Mazda’s most successful country in terms of market share, is still pushing hard for a right-hand drive Mazda 3 Turbo.

Mazda is the No.2 best-selling car brand in Australia, with a 9.3 percent market share in 2020, behind Toyota’s 22.3 percent. However if one were to discount fleet / commercial vehicle sales and only look at private buyers, Mazda is the No.1 brand in Australia.

When asked about the possibility of a right-hand drive Mazda 3 Turbo, Australian publication Go Auto quoted Mazda Australia's marketing director Alastair Doak as saying “We’re very jealous as it’s not available in right-hand drive at this point, and that’s just a resource/volume thing,” he said.

“So we keep asking and we will continue to keep asking. It’s not ruled entirely out but it’s not ruled in, it’s just the case of every time we see the program managers that can influence the decisions we keep going, ‘remember, remember’, so we’ll keep doing that.”

“Those kind of cars don’t really sell in Japan so the volume’s not there, and obviously Europe have got their targets around CO2 so when you take all that out, right-hand drive (is a tough proposition),” he said.

“And even in this market if you did 200 a month you’d be doing well, so for that kind of car it’s a difficult one to get the volume to justify it but we’ll keep asking.”

Also read: Enthusiasts are wrong, reviving the Mazda 3 MPS could cripple Mazda’s future

Once again, it’s a question whether are there enough enthusiast drivers who are willing to put money where their mouth / keyboard taps say they will. Those who buy used / reconditioned performance cars don’t count, for obvious reasons.

The business of performance is a diminishing one and Mazda doesn’t have the financial muscle of Hyundai (for i20 N, i30 N, Veloster N) or Toyota (GR Supra, GR Yaris), so it sees very little upside to pouring more money into making a right-hand drive Mazda 3 Turbo.