Faceoff: Two compact wagons duke it out

Kia (Rondo) and Mazda (Mazda5) are about to lose ownership of the small minivan space - a space they've had to themselves since Chrysler abandoned car-sized minivans several years ago.

Chrysler brass cite all sorts of reasons for dumping the unpretentious, perfectly affordable and utterly useful Dodge Caravan with the last minivan remake. Kia and Mazda, however, have carved out a nice little niche where Chrysler once ruled.

Now, Ford and others are rethinking minivans, seeing big opportunity in thinking small. They are planning compact minivans and wagons with three rows of seats, fuel-efficient four-cylinder engines and $20,000-something sticker prices. Why?

"Minivans have become very expensive, very fuel-inefficient," said Jim Farley, Ford's group vice-president of global marketing.

Ford's seven-seat Grand C-Max, shown at the recent Paris Motor Show, is scheduled for sale in Canada and the United States next year. Based on the Ford Focus platform, it will surely be priced in the very low $20,000s. The similarly sized Chevrolet Orlando also is scheduled to arrive next year. Auto analysts predict Honda and Toyota will bring equivalent models, now sold overseas, to North America, as well.

So the Mazda5 and the Kia Rondo won't have the field alone for much longer. Whatever you call these two - compact wagon, small minivan, multi-activity vehicle - until the new contenders arrive, these are your options in a vehicle class ideal for budget-constrained families.

That's true more than ever right now because today both are real deals. Mazda Canada has a basic $3,000 factory-to-dealer rebate on the 5, and it can be combined with a Grad Award ($750) and a Loyalty Bonus for repeat Mazda buyers ($500). That's a potential $4,250 discount on Mazda5 GS with a base price of $20,795.

The Rondo? Similar story. A $19,995 Rondo LX has a $4,000 factory-to-dealer incentive on the table. So the Rondo can be had for less than $16,000 plus fees and taxes, while the Mazda5 is a sub-$17,000 ride.

The Mazda5 may be a little more money, but it comes standard with seating for six - three rows of seating, in other words. If you want three seating rows in the Rondo, you'll need to move up to the $24,795 LX Premium seven-seater. Kia's $4,000 deal is still in play, by the way.

Of these two, the Mazda 5 with its sliding side doors is a pure minivan - a good thing. The sliding doors make for easy entering and exiting and they provide generally unimpeded views through big windows. Its compact size makes the 5 ideal for manoeuvring shopping malls and hockey rink parking lots. The Rondo's hinged rear doors are not as parking-space friendly as the Mazda's sliders.

Like the Rondo, the Mazda5's base engine is a four-cylinder (153 horsepower). It is mated to a five-speed manual transmission; a five-speed automatic is an extra $1,200.

The basic Rondo's four-banger comes in at 175 hp and is standard with a four-speed automatic gearbox. The Kia has a power edge; the Mazda gets better fuel economy (9.6 litres/100 km city, 7.0 highway, while the Rondo gets 10.6 city/7.5 highway).

The Mazda can haul six people, but not for long distances; those rear-most seats are pretty tight. Small kids can live there for a little while, but sitting in the third row is really out of the question for normal-sized adults.

The rest of the Mazda's interior is straightforward and well finished, though some of the plastics and fabrics have a whiff of economy car. Sporty gauges and metal-look trim inserts dress the cabin up, at least. The seats are covered in a decent cloth and the driver's seat has lumbar support, Mazda includes power window, door lock and side mirrors as standard and the steering wheel tilts and telescopes.

The Rondo is similarly equipped - all the power features and cloth upholstery, though in the base model the steering wheel only tilts. All the bits and pieces are tightly put together, too. The Rondo's cabin does look a bit more basic than the 5 - more like a working family vehicle.

Speaking of its workhorse qualities, the Rondo has more space inside than the Mazda5: 3,052 litres in total passenger volume versus 2,768 for the 5. The Rondo's seats are more effectively padded, too - more supportive and comfortable than the Mazda5's base seats.

Where the Mazda clearly has an edge is in those cleverly engineered sliding doors. Though they are not power-operated, they open and close so weightlessly that a small child can operate them.

Moreover, these doors create a huge entryway. In fact, if you pivot the second-row seats forward in a smooth one-touch operation, the Mazda offers access to the third row that no hinged-door model can touch - including the Rondo.

Mazda will bring to market a completely new version of the 5 in just a couple of months. But this older 5 is still pretty competitive and it has a slight edge overall on the current Rondo. But with more entries on the way, this minivan/wagon story, however, is far from over.

jcato@globeandmail.com

70 Automobile Journalists Association of Canada members selected the top vehicles in 11 categories at four-day TestFest