Mazda CEO closes door on talk of RX sports car revival

Mon, 10 Nov 2014

Some rumors in the auto industry simply refuse to die. Over the last decade, a few of the strongest have focused on Japan. A few years ago, we could have explained away the constant whispering over a new Toyota Supra, Acura NSX or Mazda RX-7 as nostalgia for Japan's golden era of performance. Today, though is different.

We already have the Nissan GT-R, and, thanks to the Toyota FT-1 Concept, a Supra successor finally appears to be on the way. Acura will someday, allegedly, deliver on its promise to put the NSX on sale. So where does that leave the third member of the Japanese performance trio mentioned above? Well, um, it still isn't happening.

"We don't have that kind of vehicle in our future product plan," Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai told Automotive News when asked about a successor to the rotary-powered RX line. "If you increase the number of segments, then the resources we can allocate to each will decline and that will prevent us from developing truly good products."

Kogai's planning, according to AN, sees Mazda focusing more on its increasingly strong, efficient mainstream lineup, rather than its iconic sports cars, owing to its limited spending money.

"It's difficult for us at present to further expand our lineup," Kogai told Automotive News. "The company is still in the process of improving its financial structure. We want to focus our limited resources on the Skyactiv products that we have today."

While enthusiasts may lament this move, analysts in Japan seem quite pleased with it. "A brand this size needs only so many poster cars," Kurt Sanger, an analyst with Deutsche Securities Japan, told AN.

Do you agree? Should the growing proliferation of performance vehicles, particularly Japanese brands, push Mazda back towards a rotary sports car? Have your say in Comments.

By Brandon Turkus