An image of Mazda's newly developed, longitudinally-mounted straight-six has appeared in the company's Q3 financial presentation
www.carthrottle.com
Let's hope that this is not another answer to a question nobody (in North America) asked.
The author of this article below is critical of Mazda’s current plans to move further upmarket by introducing I6 engines in a RWD platform. I must say that I agree with him.
It’s no secret that Mazda is having a tough time at the moment. Its move upmarket has backfired, and sales have been sliding even before the coronavirus pandemic. Faced with this grim reality, Hiroshima is …
paultan.org
According to this article, Mazda is set to introduce new, large crossovers to replace the CX-5 and CX-8 (the slightly smaller, East Asian equivalent to North America’s CX-9), but because the CX-5 and current CX-8 are still popular (but how popular, really, is the CX-9 here?), the current and new models will be sold side-by-side. That is a mistake, I believe; the cheaper (FWD-based) models will cannibalize the sales of the larger, more-expensive RWD-based models.
Buyers of crossovers (especially mass-market brand shoppers in North America) are looking for passenger and cargo space (which FWD-based models optimize), not for performance; only BMW and Mercedes-Benz shoppers are looking for performance crossovers. I believe that RWD-based Mazda crossovers will not sell as well as their FWD-based models.
There is a reason why almost all crossovers sold are FWD-based rather than being RWD-based. Space-efficient, FWD-based crossovers are what sells.
The article also says that because costs of the RWD-based models are getting high, Mazda is asking its suppliers to cut costs (in other words, reduce real quality of the components). That is a big mistake, in my opinion.
If Mazda wants to be taken seriously as an up-market brand, it needs to be perceived as a high-quality automaker. Nothing is worse than a premium brand-wannabe will poor-quality materials and components. That will see worse than a mass-market brand seen to have low-quality materials.
Mazda may need to find a market niche, like Subaru has done, to survive. The rotary engine – even if only in a plug-in hybrid – may be that niche. But I doubt that moving further upmarket, with RWD performance architectures, is that niche. Just ask Volkswagen and its attempt to move upmarket with the Phaeton.