Mazda MPS – no plans to introduce new hot models

Were you excited when Mazda announced its commitment to the rotary engine by introducing the RX-Vision concept? Are you hoping that the Japanese carmaker’s high-performance focus will also result in the revival of the MPS (or Mazdaspeed) nameplate?

Well, bad news. According to Car Advice, Mazda has poured cold water on any plans to introduce MPS versions on its current model line-up.

Speaking to the Australian publication, Mazda’s global president and CEO, Masamichi Kogai said, “the performance vehicles of Mazda 3 and other models, we don’t have plans at the moment. So we have to really have one best model.”

“Because we have limited resources, if we keep developing derivatives and too many derivatives, the resources we can afford to allocate on the base model or the core models will go down and then we are not able to perfect each of these models,” he added.

It was previously widely speculated that the current crop of Mazda models would be made into MPS versions, including the third-generation Mazda 3 (imagined as Theophilus Chin’s renderings at the top), new MX-5, fourth-generation Mazda 2, and the third-generation Mazda 6.

The Mazda 3 and Mazda 6 have previously had range-topping high performance variants before, with the former receiving the MPS treatment on its first- and second generation models.

In both versions, a turbocharged MZR 2.3 litre engine provided a healthy 256 hp (263 hp for US and Canadian models) at 5,500rpm and 380 Nm of torque at 3,000rpm. Malaysians were offered the second-generation Mazda 3 MPS, with a RM175k price tag at the time.

Meanwhile, the Mazda 6 also received an MPS version known as the Mazdaspeed6 in North America and Mazda 6 MPS in Europe, South Africa, and Australia. On the 6 – it too received the turbo 2.3 litre MZR mill with differing power outputs depending on the market it was sold in, ranging between 268hp to 274hp, while torque remains at 380 Nm.

With the focus now on Mazda’s next-generation rotary sports car, there’s no harm in wishing for the return of the MPS line-up in the future. How much would you like to see that happen?

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