It’s been no secret that Mazda will turn 100 in 2020 and that we’ve hoped this brand would bring us something exciting and special by this model year, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. In what appears to be an intelligent and conservative approach to building their lineup and developing the next set of engines that we’ll see, Mazda has stated they don’t intend to offer an RX-7 successor by the time the 2020 model year arrives. Much of this hesitation has to do with the development of what they’re already working one.

Even though Mazda has shown us the RX Vision concept model that appears to be what we might want in a sports car form this brand, they have stated that resources aren’t vast enough for the brand to invest in both the next high-level sports car and the next engine technology. Because the RX model would be one that would sell at a low volume and may even have a limited production run, the smart thing to do is to put money and time into the engine they’re developing for their entire passenger market to make sure this engine will be a success.

What is the new engine?

We’ve had the SkyActiv technology on the market for many years which has been the fun and active engine technology we’ve loved for the fact that it’s efficient and offers us the torque at lower rpm. The next version of this engine technology is the SkyActiv-X which is a compression ignition engine that allows the car to be powered in a similar fashion to what a diesel engine does. This is exciting and will make its way into the new Mazda3, but this isn’t where the new engine developments end for Mazda.

This brand is also working on two additional engines to see what they can do with the rotary engine. As the only automaker that has committed themselves to using the rotary engine, Mazda understands the benefits and limitations of this engine better than any other automaker on the market. The rotary engine they are developing and expecting to work the best is by using a rotary engine as a range extender for a hybrid system. This version is expected to make its way to the market sometime in 2019 or 2020 to allow for hybrid driving that will have extended distance from this setup.

The other rotary engine that’s being developed is the rotary-only model that might be used for the sports car that will arrive sometime after the centennial celebration has passed. Even though a new RX model for this celebration would be a lot of fun and expected by this brand, the announcement of their conservative approach is one we can certainly respect and admire. Maybe we’ll see the new RX model arrive on the market in 2025 to celebrate another milestone in this brand’s history, but that is yet to be seen. In the meantime, we can look forward to the two new engines that will arrive soon from Mazda.

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