Well apparently my confusion (as seen above) is also shared by Mazda.
They don't quite know what to do with the Skyactiv-X at the moment, at least as applied to the US Market.
Whispers of hints of rotary...echo echo echo...
Part of me really likes how sort of casual Mazda is compared to most OEMs. You'd never get an executive from, say, Toyota speculating about the future company direction in such a free-wheeling way. Most automotive execs always seem entirely buttoned up, walking the company line. Mazda seems to grant a lot autonomy to its engineers and executives, for better or for worse, and they tend to have different opinions and ideas of where the company is going. I'm not sure it's really better (they tend to get hopes up) but it is refreshing. Ultimately, you get the sense that Mazda people have passion for cars on every level of their payroll. For the President of the company's largest single market to have the desire to build a product
for the sake of building that product, that is a special company, in my opinion.
Another interesting bit I saw in the
other 3 article by Jalopnik
I can't help but think of the MX-6 badge being re-trademarked recently. While I know this is off-topic I do wonder what a modern MX-6 would be and what market space it would occupy. It would obviously be some sort of sports car or at least
sporting car - the MX badge didn't used to absolutely denote Sports (the MX-6 was more of a grand-tourer) but the overwhelming legacy built by the MX-5 is pretty tough to ignore. So lets say it is built to be the MX-5 + 1. I wonder what that would be! I think more than likely it would be a coupe. It could be a 4 door coupe. And it would probably have 4 seats. And it would probably have rear wheel drive. As 6 is greater than 5, it will probably be faster & more expensive than the MX-5. My best guess in this irresponsibility speculative exercise:
-MX-5 platform stretched and widened slightly
-Fixed roof coupe body shape. Perhaps a 4 door coupe.
-2700-2900lbs.
-Upmarket, sophisticated looks (Probably something like the Vision Coupe)
-2.5L N/A engine as standard 2.5T engine optional, mated to either a 6M or 6A gearbox
-Base price of $34,000USD up to about $45,000 all-in
If you think about it, not many of the mainstream car makers (or any of them?) have attempted a 4 door coupe shape (does the Stinger count? It doesn't really look like a coupe...) that has become so ubiquitous in the luxury game. I think it could actually fit Mazda's increasingly aspirational portfolio pretty nicely. Ok that's enough off topic rampant speculation for now.
