Financial constraints at Mazda will see it concentrate on its core models, with CEO Masamichi Kogai ruling out the rebirth of the Mazda RX sports car.
DESPITE NUMEROUS rumours about the revival of the iconic Mazda RX sports car series, Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai has told automotive industry site Automotive News that he has no plans to revive the discontinued RX sports car.
Rather, Kogai told Automotive News, Mazda will focus on the continued development of its SkyActiv technology. “It’s difficult for us at present to further expand our lineup,” he said. “The company is still in the process of improving its financial structure. We want to focus our limited resources on the SkyActive products that we have today.”
The last rotary-powered RX sports car, the RX-8 (pictured), was taken off-sale in 2012 due to falling sales around the world.
We don’t have that kind of vehicle in our future product plan,” Kogai told Automotive News. “If you increase the number of segments, then the resource we can allocate to each will decline and that will prevent us from developing truly great products.”
“We don’t need a home run, if each player hits a single,” Kogai said referencing baseball to describe the decision to concentrate on all its models and not on one halo car in the range.
That’s a shame. I think every car company needs a racing division so the mainstream cars can siphon technologies and engineering advancements which is a plus