Ikuo Maeda Mazda Design boss said “When it is decided as a brand that we need a sports car, that’s when we will produce the car. As you know, we already have the MX-5. If we need a more premium sports car, then we need to have a serious think about it.” So yes, the production version of the Mazda RX-Vision Concept still isn’t out of the question, but Mazda is basically saying that people have to be ready to give some proper money for it. I am talking about $50,000+ here.
Could The RX-Vision Concept Evolve To Production?
The 2016 Mazda RX-Vision Concept was a gorgeous car designed to showcase an ultimate front engine, rear wheel drive car. Some rumors floated around back then about its possible production version appearing as soon as 2017, but obviously, nothing such came to fruition.
Nevertheless, answering questions about a production version of the RX-Vision, Ikuo Maeda, Mazda Design Chief, told AutoCar journalists “I hope I can say yes – this is my dream.”
Actually, he went a bit further claiming he actually has a design for a sports car - designs for a production car that is: not a concept car or some strange one-off. Boy, I’d like to see that, but I don’t think I will.
The main hold back factor for the development of the new Mazda sports car (bigger and much faster than the MX-5, mind you) is definitely an unfavorable business case. With sports car sales falling all across the board, the entry of another sports car on the market is an almost certain failure.
One running on electricity could be a tad more logical proposition, but Mazda chiefs present at the Los Angeles Auto Show did say that the company is committed to ICEs.
“Each region and market has different methods of electricity generation,” said Ichiro Hirose, Mazda’s managing executive officer of powertrain development. “So we have to look at how the electricity is generated in each region. In some regions, it might be clean, so EVs are a good fit. But in other regions, due to power and electricity generation methods, ICE engines may have more advantage in terms of emissions. When we think about the goal of CO2 reductions, I think there are still more regions that ICE is a better fit, so I think for the time being we should still focus on ICE.”
So, no electric-only sports car for Mazda then!
A rotary?
Well, despite confirming the return of a Wankel engine by Mazda engine boss Mitsuo Hitomi last year, I am quite certain we won’t be seeing it the same form it was, say in the last RX-8. However, imagine linking electric motors and mating them with a rotary engine that can act as a range extender. That is a sound possibility.
“In the eyes of Mazda, the fuel engine is far from being written off,” Brink explains. “Even in 15 to 25 years, the fuel engine will remain an important unit for cars, as hybrids and plug-in hybrids both use it.”
Final Thoughts
I can only imagine the Mazda sports car debuting a whole new technology with a rotary engine acting as a range extender to the all-electric propulsion system. Sure, this has been done before with conventional engines. Just look at the Chevy Volt (killed off recently, by the way). However, it was not done with the rotary engine. Having it in a halo sports car with a name of RX-Vision would be awesome.
Further Reading
Read our full review on the 2016 Mazda RX-VISION Concept.
Read our full speculative review on the 2020 Mazda RX-7.
Read our full review on the 2011 Mazda RX-8.