Did A Leak Force Mazda To Reveal The 2014 Mazda6 Too Soon?

Under pressure to release photos that began to leak over the Internet this week, Mazda unveiled its new 2014 Mazda6 sedan ahead of schedule on Tuesday with three darkened but revealing images.

Will this discourage automakers from using this slow-burning teaser method in the future?

Mazda says this is the Russian spec Mazda6, but it’s quite clear this is the same U.S. design seen in their recent videos. The 2014 Mazda6 will officially bow at the Moscow International Automobile Salon next month, instead of the previous plan for the Paris Auto Show in September – indicating that Mazda felt the heat to show the front end earlier than they would have preferred.

The new Mazda6 will draw heavily from the 2012 TAKERI concept car, with an enlarged front grille lined in chrome that swoops up and over the headlights. The new design fits the current Mazda family lineup on cars such as the CX-5 and will likely carry into future models as well.

It also bears true to recent teaser videos that Mazda posted to Facebook and YouTube, offering fleeting glimpses of the new design every few days. Those videos combined to paint a pretty obvious picture of what the sedan would look like, and this week images of the complete car began to leak online.

Other automakers use this method with success, as the SRT Viper provided short glimpses without suffering a full leak and the Lexus LS is currently being teased ahead of its official unveil in a few weeks. Gradually releasing teaser images and videos is a great way to score social media buzz and create attention surrounding a new release – but in the case of the Mazda6, it may also increase pressure that bursts a dam before the automaker is ready.

At the show in Russia, Mazda says the new sedan will sport a SKYACTIV-G 2.0L engine mated to a SKYACTIV-Drive 6-speed transmission, plus a new i-ELOOP capacitor-based regenerative braking system that improves fuel economy by 10-percent.

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Do you like the current teasing strategy that Mazda and some other automakers are using? Let us know in the Comments below.