- Mazda says it’s poised to introduce a Toyota GR86 rival—a production version of its Iconic SP
- The concept’s slinky lines recalled the RX-7—will Mazda call the new car the RX-9?
- But wait, there’s more! A family of next-gen Skyactiv-Z four-cylinder engines is on the way
Despite our roads being awash with crossovers and SUVs, it’s a pretty good time to be a gearhead and/or fan of small, sporty coupes. Cars like the Toyota GR86 prove that affordable fun isn’t dead — and Mazda‘s apparently hoping to underscore that sentiment by re-entering the segment with some affordable fun of its own.
The Iconic SP Concept coupe first showed up on the Mazda stand at last year’s Japan Mobility Show, sporting silky red paint and the sort of silhouette fans of the brand have been pining for ever since the RX-7 shuffled off this mortal coil. Now, the company’s design boss has confirmed a production variant is in the works, scheduled for introduction sooner rather than later.
“This concept is not just one of those empty show cars,” said Masashi Nakayama, design chief at Mazda. “It has been designed with real intent to turn it into a production model in the not-so distant future.” Given the fact this Iconic SP hews to a formula responsible for producing entertaining vehicles, this is great news for any one with nitrous oxide in their blood and a gas tank for a brain.
It also helps that the Iconic SP Concept doesn’t seem to be a rig which was hastily stitched together a week before show-time by a group of high schoolers who forgot their homework. “The more time you spend looking at it, the more the car will reveal to you,” said Naohito Saga, Executive Officer at Mazda’s R&D Strategy Planning Division. There are likely to be plenty of changes before the Iconic SP reaches a showroom floor (ahem, door handles would be nice) but he’s right in saying there’s little here which is a pure flight of fancy. We won’t hang our collective hats on the butterfly doors, however.
On the powertrain side of the ledger, Mazda has also given an update on its collab with Toyota and Subaru on what will be called the Skyactiv-Z family of engines, scheduled for 2027. These will be gasoline-powered four-cylinder mills, putting another nail in the coffin of any arguments that internal-combustion is dead and gone. The brand is still working on EVs, of course, along with a raft of just-right hybrids in both regular and plug-in form. Also, the rumour that Mazda will reintroduce rotary engines as range extenders for EVs continues to persist, though there’s nothing new or official to report on that front.
In terms of today’s product, Mazda sales are up 25.9% through to the end of October, with 61,961 deliveries in the books. Its best-seller is the CX-5, which comprised well over one-third that number.
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