As the Protege reaches the end of its planned design cycle, there are many rumors and questions as to what's to happen to this small car. The new MP3 (M3, Mazdaspeed 3) will be shown at the New York auto show this year and will come equipped in Turbo 2.0l trim. 2003 will be the end of the 'Protege' as we know it. The name is being replaced to fit into Mazda's re-design of alphanumeric model designations. Could this be the next car?
Sources do indicate that this is one of the possible hatchback variations of the new car, and there are some more conventional looking versions. I am pretty sure it will use the new engine, the 178hp 2.3L aluminium block which it shares with the new Atenza. Ford is actually doing development of that engine in Europe for use in it's RC Focus models. From what I understand, ALL Ford high performance work in Europe (4 cylinder work, at least) will be using the Mazda based engine.