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Recharge Wrap-up: BYD sales surge, new Mazda MX-5, plug-in VW Passat

BYD has enjoyed a tremendous leap in sales since last year, according to Want China Times. Sales from January to April were ten times that of the same period last year, with much of the credit going to government subsidies for clean cars. BYD claims, though, that battery production is limiting the number of vehicles it sells, and that by increasing that production capacity, it will see even more success. BYD's Qin plug-in hybrid, introduced in December, has already sold 4,500 units with another 8,000 orders already placed. Read more here. Mazda will reveal the fourth generation of its MX-5 roadster in September. To celebrate the car's 25th anniversary, the all-new two-seat convertible will debut during simultaneous private events in Spain, Japan and the US on September 3 and 4. Furthermore, the new Miata will be the center of a more public event in Barcelona on September 6. For fans in the US, Mazda will hold a Miatas at Mazda Raceway event from September 5 to 7. The 2016 MX-5 promises to continue to offer a lightweight, balanced design for fun and efficiency. The new Volkswagen Passat will feature a plug-in hybrid version. Volkswagen confirmed the Passat PHEV for Europe at the model's unveiling at the Volkswagen Design Centre in Potsdam, Germany. The plug-in Passat uses a 154-horsepower TSI engine and an 80-kilowatt electric motor for a total output of 208 horsepower. With a full charge, it can travel up to 31 miles on electricity alone. All versions of the eighth-generation Passat use stop-start and regenerative braking. Read more at Green Car Congress. BBC warns that the costs of charging an electric vehicle in the UK could surpass those of fueling a gasoline engine. Not so fast, says The Green Car Website. While the BBC cites charging services like Charge Master introducing fees for rapid charging making it cost about as much per mile to drive as traditional internal combustion engines. The Green Car Website points out that most people usually charge at home for much less, that paying for rapid charging is still not that expensive and that the BBC article misses the point about EVs, anyway. See the BBC article here or click here to read the rebuttal. News Source: Want China Times, Mazda, Volkswagen, BBC News, The Green Car Website via Charged, Green Car Congress Green Mazda Volkswagen Green Automakers Electric PHEV recharge wrapup qin

Mazda launches 25th Anniversary Miata pre-order site, priced from $32,205

Mazda made a big celebration of the MX-5 Miata at the 2014 New York Auto Show with a bunch of classic models on display. It capped off the model's 25th birthday with the announcement of the 2015 MX-5 Miata 25th Anniversary Edition and showed off the much-anticipated, next-generation version's chassis.
While we are still at least year away from the new Miata hitting the road, the anniversary edition is on its way and is limited to just 100 copies for the United States. The special cars start at $32,205, compared to $23,970 for the 2015 softtop model and $28,665 for the 2015 retractable hardtop version. There is an additional $795 destination charge for all of them.
To make sure everyone gets a chance to own the ceremonial convertible, Mazda has a countdown on its website until 10:25 AM PDT, May 20, 2014. When the day comes, 250 people can to register for the car, and the first 100 to be verified as buyers get the rare Miata. Those with multiple entries will be disqualified.

Mazda won't build new Mazdaspeed3 or 6 based on current models

It's sad news but not entirely unexpected: According to a Motoring interview, Mazda doesn't intend to build high-performance versions of the latest Mazda3 and Mazda6. Instead, it will wait for the next generations of those cars to arrive before applying the Mazdaspeed treatment. When the future performance models do eventually arrive, expect them to take a step upmarket compared to the last ones. In the meantime, the Japanese brand will focus its engineering resources on the next-generation Skyactiv engine family, according to Mazda's North American operations president and CEO Masahiro Moro. "Our research and development department is 100 percent focused on delivering Skyactiv generation two and if we don't have this we don't have any other derivatives," Moro told Motoring. Once the new engines arrive around 2017, Mazda's engineers can start to develop performance versions. "MPS or performance model or a sort of iconic model of the future will be a little bit later at this stage," Moro said. Moro is already thinking about the direction for the future performance vehicles. He calls the previous Mazdaspeed3 "childish" and thinks it's time to go a different way. "Mazda brand has become more mature, more upscale, more sophisticated, and we have a new transition of the brand to relate that direction," he said. Rumors last year suggested that Mazda might introduce a new Mazdaspeed3 (speculative rendering above) as a concept at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show. It would have reportedly used the CX-9's 2.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder tuned to 295 horsepower and an all-wheel-drive powertrain. The vehicle never appeared, though. The current Mazda3 and Mazda6 arrived in 2014, so a new generation of each wouldn't arrive until around 2020. That would put Mazdaspeed derivatives at 2021 or later. In short, it will be a while. For customers that have the Driving Matters attitude now, Mazda still offers the award-winning MX-5 Miata as a convertible and soon with an impressive folding hardtop. Plus, Fiat will sell its own versions of the car with 160 hp. We wouldn't mind if Mazda turned up the heat a little by introducing something like the Racing concept from last year's Tokyo Auto Salon, though. Related Video: