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09-08-2003, 02:14 PM
No Plans to Revive RX-7, Mazda Insists
Those expecting to glimpse a new rotary-powered Mazda sports car at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show will be in for a serious disappointment, several senior Mazda officials tell TheCarConnection.com. It’s not that the automaker isn’t exploring the idea of reviving its legendary two-seater, which went out of production last year. For the moment, though, it has its corporate hands full with the new four-seat RX-8, which is just in the midst of a global launch. There’s another problem, stresses Mazda Motors Board Member Steve Odell: limited production capacity for the new Renesis rotary engine. There’s only capacity for 60,000 of the engines a year, he notes, around what Mazda hopes to need for the RX-8, and expanding production would be “quite difficult.” Translation: extremely expensive. But there is a future for the rotary, he adds. “I’m sure we’d like” to produce other rotary-powered models, including a new RX-7, “if the demand is there.” A solid hit with the new car could be the encouragement Mazda needs. —Paul A. Eisenstein
From The Car Connection. Does this meen no rotary for the next Miata? Looks like.
Those expecting to glimpse a new rotary-powered Mazda sports car at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show will be in for a serious disappointment, several senior Mazda officials tell TheCarConnection.com. It’s not that the automaker isn’t exploring the idea of reviving its legendary two-seater, which went out of production last year. For the moment, though, it has its corporate hands full with the new four-seat RX-8, which is just in the midst of a global launch. There’s another problem, stresses Mazda Motors Board Member Steve Odell: limited production capacity for the new Renesis rotary engine. There’s only capacity for 60,000 of the engines a year, he notes, around what Mazda hopes to need for the RX-8, and expanding production would be “quite difficult.” Translation: extremely expensive. But there is a future for the rotary, he adds. “I’m sure we’d like” to produce other rotary-powered models, including a new RX-7, “if the demand is there.” A solid hit with the new car could be the encouragement Mazda needs. —Paul A. Eisenstein
From The Car Connection. Does this meen no rotary for the next Miata? Looks like.