Production of the new Demio started in July 1996 (sold as the 121 outside Japan and Europe) used the DW platform. Ford retailed a version in Japan as the Ford Festiva Mini Wagon. In 1997, the Mazda logo was changed to the current logo. The Demio received a horizontal grille in September 1998 for Japanese market. The Demio received a facelift in December 1999 with a revised exterior, redesigned dashboard, cabin air filtration, retuned automatic transmission, and available DSC. The original Demio was replaced in 2002.
