Ask many car fans what they want more than anything else, and the answer is likely to be a rotary-powered successor to the Mazda RX-7 and RX-8 sports cars.
There have been many rumors of a rotary renaissance at Mazda, put perhaps they were more wishful thinking than prophecy.
Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai quashed the hopes of legions of gearheads in a recent interview with Automotive News (subscription required), stating that the automaker has no plans for a new rotary-powered car.
“We don’t have that kind of vehicle in our future product plan,” Kogai stated plainly. He noted that Mazda has limited resources, and spreading them out across a wide variety of car platforms just doesn’t make sense for the company right now.
Instead, Mazda will focus on its core lineup of mainstream models, which has already hit a nice sweet spot of sportiness and efficiency with its Skyactiv piston engines.
A new rotary engine would bring plenty of glory, but it would admittedly be hard to make a business case for an engine that couldn’t be used in those mainstream cars and crossovers.
Or, as one analyst speaking to Automotive News put it: “A brand this size only needs so many poster cars.”
Mazda will roll out the redesigned MX-5 Miata next year as a 2016 model, and that will apparently be the only sports car in the company’s showrooms for the time being.
The Internet has also been abuzz with rumors of a new Mazdaspeed3 hot hatch. Mazda hasn’t confirmed this car for production, but it hasn’t denied its existence either.
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