Mazda6 2.2D Business Line 129PS 5dr road test

Mazda 6 2.2D Business Line 129PS 5dr

What is it?

THE Mazda6 Business Line is, as you might have gleaned from its name, a business focused model for company car drivers.

Essentially, Mazda has taken its standard Mazda6 T2 129PS diesel model, and added the necessary specification that business drivers need: Sanyo TomTom satellite navigation with Bluetooth technology for hands-free mobile use, along with a decent set of 17-inch alloy wheels to complement all-round electric windows, air conditioning and cruise control. Metallic paint is also thrown in – there’s the choice of Black Mica, Sunlight Silver Metallic and Stormy Blue Mica.

More importantly, there’s a very keen P11d price of just £18,130. Hitch this P11d price up to CO2 emissions of 138g/km and you get a 20% company car tax banding with a low benefit in kind tax position. So what’s the Mazda6 Business Line like to drive?

What’s hot?

• The Mazda6 Business Line’s low benefit in kind tax position…
• …expect to pay just £60 (@20%)/£120 (@40%) a month company car tax
• There’s also 54.3mpg fuel economy
• We saw over 50mpg after 500 miles – so it’s economical in real use
• Good touchscreen Sanyo TomTom satnav routing and display…
• …which also comes with speed camera alerts and speed limit display
• Bluetooth phone connectivity easy to set up and use
• Diesel engine has plenty of low-down urge making it feel nicely peppy
• And more sprightly than its 10.9 sec 0-62mph figures suggests
• Gearbox snicks delightfully between gears with a nicely engineered feel
• Lots of decent business kit in the price
• Well built and well finished
• Advantageous Mazda Contract Hire rates of £285 a month

What’s not?

• Interior feels drab
• Those nice alloy wheels certainly give a firm ride
• Sanyo TomTom sat-nav feels like an aftermarket fitment (which it is)…
• …rather than an integral element of the car like rival company cars

What you need to Know?

Monthly contract hire (CH) and personal contract hire (PCH) rentals generated by Concept Vehicle Leasing. Based on a 36 month lease at 10,000 miles a year, 3+35 payments.

Business Car Manager Road Test Rating

There’s little question: you are getting a lot of car for the money with the Mazda6 Business Line – and little in the way of benefit in kind tax penalty. And that should instantly register on any business driver’s radar. And with some 50mpg, there’s decent running costs too, which should please small business owners.

Certainly you can choose lesser powered rival models – for example Ford’s 1.6 Zetec Mondeo Eco Start Stop which would lower your benefit in kind company car tax bill. But with this Mondeo model the power is only 115PS.

Pitched against the 2.0 Mondeo 140PS Zetec, which requires additional expenditure for the satellite navigation system, then the value of the Mazda6 Business Line becomes clearer. The Mazda6 Business Line has a benefit in kind value of £3266; the Mondeo Zetec a benefit in kind value of £4415.

It makes the Mazda6 Business Line a nicely judged vehicle for the business car market: good value Mazda contract hire rates; good value driver company car tax; and good value running costs. If there is a chink in the argument, it’s over the emotional engagement – Mazda might tell you the car has the zoom-zoom factor but it’s not rubbed off on the Mazda6. Yet. But as a hard-headed business car proposition, it’s an open and shut case.