Bad news for fans of the Mazda RX-8 and RX-7 sports series. Speaking to Automotive News, Masamichi Kogai, CEO of Mazda, has confirmed that plans to reintroduce a rotary-powered sports car into the Mazda range is pretty much dead. “We don’t have that kind of vehicle in our future product plan,” he adds.
Limited financial resources will be diverted to developments under the SkyActiv umbrella in an effort to meet increasingly demanding global emissions standards. Unlike rivals such as Toyota, Honda and Nissan, Mazda does not possess the same amount of capital for R&D.
Instead of developing a halo car, Kogai is adamant that constant improvements over the current SkyActiv range is more important. “If you increase the number of segments, then the resources we can allocate to each will decline and that will prevent us from developing truly good products,” says Kogai.
Kogai’s vision appears to be working with Mazda chalking up record profits and expansion plans involving facilities in Thailand. With that said, don’t count them out just yet – perhaps Mazda will take a page out of Honda’s book to relive its glory days in the distant future.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Price for FDs just shot up the roof.
hahaha you must be joking. Who want a piece of unreliable shit that need engine replacement every 60k and a gas guzzler which will make hummer look like a wimp.
Rotary is dead. Period. N so are resale value. This junk spend more time in workshop and half cut shop.
My Iriz is better than this lousy RX!
Other than engine noise, power window jam 2-3 times and a little bit low FC (7.5km/l), I am very happy with my Iriz. Can easily smoke these RX anytime anywhere.
Your Iriz is a pure rubbish
u use a trash to compare with a japanese rotary legend?stop your daydream please!iriz how can fight with it?come on!
Keep the mx-5 and kill the rx? What were they thinking?
You can thank tightening emission regulations for that. I think it boiled down mostly to the engine. You won’t want to see an RX car without its famous Wankel rotary engine, would you? Neither does Mazda. Neither do I. That would have desecrated the RX legacy.
In order to make that kind of engine work with the current regulations, I think they need a copious amount of R&D investment in order to make it more efficient and less polluting. By the way, strict emission regulations were what caused its death in the first place. From the CEO’s statements, Mazda truly cannot foot the research bill to make the Wankel engine relevant in today’s motoring scene WHILE refining their SkyActiv range. Perhaps in the future, once their SkyActiv range has gained enough of a foothold to afford them resources of the “now…what do we do with these?” category, then they can continue to work on the return of a legend.
MX5 is their best seller in Europe n US
Sad news. But seeing how the hot hatch battle is heating up, it’s just my opinion that they should try to release a “Mazda 2 MPS”.
It’ll attract young adults, and if successful, create brand loyalty that last for decades. When they grow older there’s a higher chance they’ll stick to the same brand, buying more “grown up” Mazda like the 3 or 6.
I know Kawasaki did this in the USA for sport bikes, hoping the 250 riders will upgrade to bigger Ninjas and Honda did the same in 2011 with the CBR 250 trying to grab market share.
Also look at all those still loyal to T and H even when their car wasn’t what it used to be compare relatively to rivals.
Don’t do it for now, do it for the future.
You gotta do what you gotta do to survive. I think this is a sad but wise decision for them because it’s obviously the bread-and-butter models that are going to be experienced by most people, so making them better will definitely be more beneficial to Mazda in the long term. On a side note, this also hints that Mazda might still be struggling to get by.
And to mazda malaysia! Please rectify the skyactiv platform ront absorber noise issue! And beef up your service center technical competency!
*front absorber
i’ll continue waiting and pray for the day they announce SkyActiv Renesis
The only major drawback of rotary engines is the bad FC & emission.
very unfortunate for this car.
Good design needs good engine as well.
Alternatively they could use the skyactive engine.
But im sure they had a good reason not doing so..
Heres my take on Mazda.. May or may not be true though. Its just what i can see is happening in the automotive industry.
So Yes, Mazda builds cars that many enthusiast loves. They build really sexy and good looking cars. Their exterior design is a level above all its competitions. Their interior design is also a level above their competitions. They build really sporty cars with class leading handling.
To me, it ends there. Now here’s the problem. Although Mazda cars look good in and out, its a fact that they are the least practical in the bunch. Take the Mazda 6 as an example. It’s supposed to go against the likes of the Camry, Accord, Teanna, Passat. Put Malaysia aside(because Malaysians will praise just about anything about Mazdas), Majority of the people who are looking to buying a car, may not necessarily want a car thats full fledge sporty and sexy. Most people look for comfort in that class of car and the Mazda 6 just doesn’t deliver the comfort level of its rival. Not even close. On top of that, though the car may look big from outside, its really cramped inside especially for the rear passengers. Potential buyers of D-Segment cars generally look for a car that can double as a family sedan car and an executive sedan to take them to work.
Its quite the same story for the Mazda 3. Though its good looking and sporty, its the least practical and I believe its factors like these that Mazda loses out in terms of volume sales compared to its rivals. Look at the Toyota Altis, Ford Focus, Honda Civic. They may not be the sexiest sedans around. But they are the World’s 3 best selling sedans for ages. Because they have the balance of Comfort,Sporty and Practicality.
Mazda has a passion for sports cars. Unfortunately their direction isn’t going to bring them the masses. Most people only consider a Mazda as a second or third car to own in 1 household but not as their main car. And thats probably why Mazda isn’t generating enough profit to go further.
I would love to see Mazda produce more family oriented sedans for the mass and continue to build sporty cars as a side model.. Something like the Passat and the CC or the Camry and the Avalon.
I see this as partially true. The Ford Focus reviews say that its interior is cramped as well, even with some practicality designs, yet it sells well despite that fact. I believe it’s mostly down to its famous ride-and-handling and perhaps Ford’s brand pedigree, but I wouldn’t know the whole reason behind its success.
Mazda makes cars that please the driver, pure and simple. It is in their ethos, stated as their mission to infuse their cars with jinba ittai. To do otherwise would be to betray themselves. In my mind, this works for them even though it will mean that they would never grow to the size of Toyota, Honda or Nissan because, frankly, many people don’t care so much about a car’s sportiness. However, this means that Mazda is never in direct contention with the main players. The Mazda6 is a whole different animal compared to, say, a Camry. Some people choose to be chauffeured in a Camry. If you do that with a Mazda6, you’re doing it wrong. It’s meant for people who like to drive and would love to be behind the wheel.
I believe Mazda knows what they’re getting into when they design their cars thus. The demographic they’re aiming for is fundamentally different from people that would look first at T, H, and N. Mazda has never been mainstream. That’s what brought about really cool cars like the RX-7 and RX-8. That’s what brought about the SkyActiv tech which is quite unique even now due to how it optimizes the internal combustion engine.
They should continue what they’re doing. The world needs more people who dare to go against the flow to find new ways of doing things better. It’s what keeps this world exciting.
Couldn’t agree more with your comment! I know for a fact that Mazda’s mission is such. They have succeeded in a way that the rest can’t. I guess there are pros and cons with their mission and vision..
Indeed. That’s why Mazda holds a special place in my heart. :P
By your logic, Mazda and to make more practical cars to flourish. I’m sorry but in the sea of extremely boring but practical cars, Mazdas shine through. It’s not all about the space, want to carry more people, buy a van. A car is meant to be driven and Mazda does that very well. The more options to the masses the better. I wouldn’t be caught dead driving a mundane Corrolla or Camry or Civic.
My frens new Mazda 6 battery conk out, had to wait 2 months.
Seems battery is special unit, order fr Japan.
Next time should cost a bomb to replace.
Is this due to skyactive config?
Goodbye and thank you for the delight u have everytime an rx drive by with at least half throttle opened.
Maybe they will produce new generation rx.Mazda RX 9 Skyactiv R.hahaha
It’s a good news le…means who owns RX especially the FC and FD have some rare exotic car in their possession something they can bid for higher prices if they want to sell them.
ahh JDM era is dead now…huhu