Tag: Rumors

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Rumors of a Fiat/Mazda Partnership

There have been some new stories surfacing lately of Fiat showing interest in partnering with Mazda or Suzuki.

Although Mazda’s U.S. sales are surging this year, up 48% through February, the company has forecast a 1.2 billion dollar loss after the appreciation of the yen and the losses it faced due to last year’s tragic Tsunami.

Mazda President Takashi Yamanouchi said last month that the company was “aggressively “looking for a partner and at the Geneva International Motor Show early this month, Fiat Chief Executive Officer, Sergio Marchionne, said he’s searching for a third partner after merging with Chrysler Group LLC to help reduce development costs and boost sales in fast-growing countries, and said teaming with either Suzuki Motor Corp. or Mazda Motor Corp makes sense.

I can see the benefit of partnering with another manufacturer to increase the production base outside of Japan. The exchange rate has been hard on Mazdas profits despite setting sales records in several markets around the planet and increased sales in North America. Mazda is currently building a plant in Mexico to service the Americas. It is a completely owned Mazda production facility and it should benefit Mazda greatly over the next few decades but the outlay of initial cash is pretty heavy at 500 million USD.

With the extra capacity at the plants in Europe that Fiat offers Mazda could leverage a better position and reduce costs and prices of vehicles sold there. If it was just a deal worked out with Mazda have vehicle produced in Fiats plants it would be a good match. Fiat would have the extra capacity used up and Mazda would not have the investment of a new production plant. Cars built in Europe would also avoid the import duties thus making Mazdas more attractive with lower prices.

Recently Fiat partnered with the cripple Chrysler group and they appear to have the ship turned around now and headed in the right direction.

If this partnership comes to be, only time will tell if it will benefit both Fiat and Mazda in the end.

-Derrick

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More Turbos from Mazda

CorkSport likes to be in the know on what Mazda is up to so I spend a good deal of time keeping in touch with my contacts at Mazda headquarters and searching the internet for clues on what Mazda is developing. I recently ran across a fascinating bit of information looking up patent applications with the US patent and trademark office that gives us a very interesting clue as to what Mazda may have in store for us in the future.

Mazda had a patent approved on January 12, 2010 for a forced induction engine with two sources of boost. The patent refers to an electric driven compressor (electric supercharger) which disengages when the engine reaches a pre-determined mid-range RPM point at which point the engine switches over to an exhaust driven compressor (a turbo charger).

This could be really handy for a small displacement engine when you want to get a large amount of power. The electric supercharger gives the engine the necessary boost to get the mid-range where the engine can then develop enough exhaust flow to spin the turbocharger.

This is the same theory used for a twin turbo charged engine but with instant boost from the electric supercharger. It can give a small displacement engine a decent torque improvement and the turbocharger will add the benefit of top-end power.

The whole idea gets even better with a variable vane turbine that would adjust to the engine speed. The faster the engine speed the more exhaust volume, allowing you to get the most out of the turbocharger efficiency.

This whole patent has the fingerprints of 2015 Mazdaspeed 3 written all over it if you ask me. You would still be getting the smaller, eco-friendly, SkyActiv engine but when you put your foot on it there is a big turbocharger lurking to give you gobs of torque just like the current Mazdaspeed 3.

I will give a word of warning though, not all things which have patents ever see the light of day, but the fact that Mazda spent the time and effort to patent this idea with the US patent office, gives me hope we will see a version of this patent in the next 3-4 years.

-Derrick

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Mazda TAKERI – The Next Mazda6?

The Mazda TAKERI next generation midsize sedan concept car will debut at the 42nd Annual Tokyo Motor Show on December 3-11, 2011.

The latest concept to emerge from Mazda’s new ‘Kodo – Soul of Motion’ design hints at the next generation Mazda 6 and is intended to bring a new level of strength and allure to the sedan styling.

The Mazda TAKERI wears the so-called Signature Wing grille that bisects with narrower, oval headlights, giving the vehicle a more aggressive look and the hothouse sloped rear glass emanates a sporty feeling.

The sport inspired design continues inside of the sedan with four bucket seats, a sleek dashboard design, three-spoke steering, a joystick shifter, and flashy gauges.

This concept car includes Mazda’s new Skyactiv technology along with I-stop technology, which saves fuel by shutting down a vehicles engine automatically when the car is stationary and restarting it when the driver resumes driving.

It will be equipped with regenerative breaking which is a variable voltage regulation for the alternator. The system converts kinetic energy absorbed by the brakes during deceleration into electricity, and stores it in capacitors that then send the power to the vehicle’s electric equipment. According to Mazda, this reduces engine load and results in excellent fuel economy.

Mazda expects to offer gasoline and diesel versions of the revamped Mazda6 when it goes on sale in the United States sometime in 2013 and the company is aiming to score big in the next-generation car with both mileage and styling.

With the expected fuel savings and sleek new design of the Mazda 6, I’ll be the first to say that I think Mazda has a hit on their hands with the new 6. I know I could see myself in one those!

Gwynne-

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Patent Drawing Leaked for Next Generation Mazda MX-5 Miata

The Japanese publication, Holiday Auto Magazine, intercepted a patent drawing of the next generation Mazda MX-5 Miata while it was on its way to the Tokyo Patent Office this week and gave the world a glimpse of what’s to come for this hotly anticipated sports car.

The intercepted drawing gives us a view of its front end which, based on the dashed outline, suggests that Mazda will be ditching the smiley face in a return to the more classic look of the ellipse grille and round fog light recesses seen in the MX-5’s predecessors. Fortunately, the pop-up headlights will remain a thing of the past and the new headlights will be getting some updated technology with LED lighting.

The MX-5 has had three different generations throughout its 21 year history, numerous design updates and even more engine changes. The new MX-5 will reportedly remain a rear-wheel drive compact sports coupe. Sources say that engineers have been ordered to cut 720 lbs from the 2,480-pound curb weight of the current model with a goal of getting the Miata back to its original weight of 2,178 pounds. To achieve this goal, engineers are using high-strength steel for the body and are said to be planning to power the Mazda MX-5 with a 1.5-liter SkyActiv-G four-cylinder engine that will produce up to 160 horsepower and will be mated to a six-speed manual transmission with an option to change to a dual-clutch semi-automatic transmission.

The new Mazda MX-5 will bow out as a concept car next year before the production model is slated to be unveiled at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. In the mean time, we can expect more speculation and opinions on the future of the most famous sports car in the world to continue as additional details are provided.

Gwynne-

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The Super 20

I normally don’t just write about show cars that are seen in a SEMA booth by themselves for my blog posts. Mx-5s are not a normal focus of mine either. In the Mazdaspeed booth at the SEMA show was a good looking Mx5. The MX-5 had fender extensions to give it a wide body look and an eye catching paint and graphic scheme with the Super 20 logos. Under the hood are a Cosworth supercharger, Mazdaspeed header, and a Mazdaspeed Japan front tower brace. Again you think so what; it is just a SEMA show car.

What I found interesting is the history on this car. I spoke with a Mazda insider who said this car was built to test the feasibility of releasing a supercharged MX-5 in the showroom. If the economy was better this could be a reality. This is really a “what if” statement but cars like this have become a reality before, which is what really interested me.

If you know your Mazda history another car like this one actually became a production vehicle. The 2003 Mazdaspeed Protégé was released. It was a Protégé built in Japan and shipped to the North America to have a turbo kit installed at the port before delivery to dealers. Mazda collaborated with Callaway to provide the turbo charging expertise. The same thing could have happened with the Super 20 and Cosworth.

Unfortunately with the product life cycle of the MX-5 ending in the next few years we will not see this car ever released. This is one of those cars that could have been and should have been.

– Derrick