The great news just keep on coming, as we've also been informed that the facelifted Mazda 6 will be headed for our shores very soon – as early as March or April this year, in fact!

Like the current car, the refreshed version of the slinky D-segment beauty is slated to arrive in Malaysia first in fully-assembled form, all the way from Japan. The often-reported locally-assembled model, also facelifted, is apparently still on the cards, reaching showrooms later this year.

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Unveiled at Los Angeles last year, the new 6 gets a new front fascia, featuring revised LED projector headlights with Mazda 2-like daytime running lights, a more pronounced chrome wing, horizontal slats in the grille and new fog light surrounds with chrome accents. The rear end has also been updated with new LED tail lights and a shark fin antenna.

There are bigger changes inside, with a completely redesigned dashboard, a new instrument cluster, a cleaner switchgear layout, a freestanding touchscreen hooked up to an MZD Connect infotainment system, an electronic parking brake as well as a new off-white colour scheme.

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A Drive Selection switch has been added to the six-speed SkyActiv-Drive automatic transmission – including a more responsive Sport mode – and noise levels at cruising speeds have dropped by as much as 25%. The 2.0 litre and 2.5 litre SkyActiv-G direct-injected petrol four-pots remain unchanged.

On the safety front, the i-ActivSense feature list has been expanded to include adaptive headlights, Lane-keep Assist System (LAS) on top of the existing Lane Departure Warning system and Driver Alert. The existing Smart City Brake Support (SCBS) and Pre-crash Throttle Control (PTC) functions now include rear obstacle and vehicle detection, while Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM) has been updated with Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA).