Mazda has a lot of pieces in motion for its RX-7 revival. The new sports car, which should be heavily inspired by the Mazda Iconic SP concept from a few years ago, should also feature a new rotary engine. That rotary is almost ready, too, and there’s another hurdle to clear. Arguably it’s the biggest one: Mazda has to make a business case for the upcoming sports car, which is still unnamed (at least externally, Mazda surely has an internal name for the project by now). It’s tough, especially in today’s market, where sports car sales are typically the smallest portion of an automaker’s profits.
Mazda Is Still Working Hard On A New Sports Car
“You can expect Iconic SP will be a good successor for RX-7,” Mazda Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Ryuichi Umeshita told MotorTrend. The car isn’t a Miata replacement, and it’ll be heavily based on the design of the Iconic SP concept, which debuted in 2023 at the Japan Mobility Show. Mazda said at the time the 2+2 coupe was going to be a production car with a “similar” design, debuting in the next few years. The Iconic SP concept was shown using a rotary engine complemented by a range-extending hybrid system. Mazda said at the time that total system output would be around 365 horsepower.
For a sports car, the Miata sells incredibly well, and last year it sold a strong 27,669 units.
That powertrain appears to be the plan at this point, with Umeshita telling MT that the drive unit is a more emissions-compliant version of the one found in the MX-30, which we didn’t see in the US market, but is sold overseas. The production timeline for the unnamed coupe isn’t as clear. Umeshita does say that the rotary is nearing the end of its development, but it won’t be ready this year. Instead, the company is eyeing 2026 at the earliest, dependent on how well Mazda can argue its business case for the new sports car.
The Next-Gen Miata Is Well Underway
Mazda is also hard at work on a fifth-generation Miata. The new sports car is intended to follow in the footsteps of its previous iterations, which, for Mazda, means not messing with success. For a sports car, the sells incredibly well, and last year it sold a strong 27,669 units. The Miata will pull from styling cues found in the Iconic concept, but “size and likeness” won’t change, says the car’s designer, Masashi Nakayama, general manager of Mazda’s Design Division.
However, he does want to make updates elsewhere while keeping with the car’s goal: an affordable lightweight sports car with mass appeal. Mazda is working on an updated Skyactive engine, which should keep the Miata naturally aspirated, driven by a manual, and emissions-compliant. If that’s to be the case, it’ll be one of the most impressive engineering feats in recent memory.
TopSpeed’s Take
Last time Mazda offered two sports cars simultaneously, they shared a platform. Broadly, the NC-generation Miata that was sold alongside the then-new RX-8 is seen as the runt of the litter, and the RX-8 hasn’t exactly become a neo-classic sports car. Mazda won’t be making the platform-sharing mistake this time, it appears, and perhaps that’ll help the company to better cater to a diverse market of sports car buyers.
Source: MotorTrend
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