What are the main criteria you follow when shopping for a new car? I guess you look for a better fuel economy, good design, practicality and versatility, and a reasonable price – probably, but it turns out that women may have a slightly different take. That’s what we learn from the organizers of the Women's World Car of the Year awards, which say the competition features “female judges from over 30 different countries who are asked to vote according to criteria women use when buying a car.”

Well, we won’t dive into that as the Mazda3 has just won this year’s award and is now the Supreme Winner, as well as Women's World Family Car of the Year. Mazda’s hypothesis is that the 3 won the hearts of the judges mainly with its “matured Kodo design language,” which combines simple lines with a bold appearance and a more prominent overall body structure. Maybe the promised more natural feel when accelerating, turning, and braking helped, too? Who knows.

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To make the hatch (also available as a sedan) even more compelling, Mazda has recently unveiled the Mazda3 TCR race car, which has a turbocharged four-cylinder engine good for 350 horsepower (261 kilowatts) and 361 pound-feet (490 Newton-meters) of torque. A six-speed sequential gearbox channels the power to the wheels, helping the car reach a top speed of 150 miles per hour (241 kilometers per hour). The race car will take part in the 2020 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and is scheduled to receive its racing debut with the four-hour Endurance Challenge part of the Rolex 24 at Daytona on Sunday, January 26.

Gallery: 2019 Mazda3: First Drive

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At this point, we can only dream of a road-going version of that hot hatch as the Zoom-Zoom company recently said it doesn’t have plans to bring one to the market.