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Auto blog

The Mazda MX-5 Miata and saving a marriage

I've had the privilege of knowing Zach Bowman – former Autoblog scribe, now penning great things over at Road & Track – for nearly a decade. We met at the Detroit Auto Show when we were both relatively new to the business, and joked about how someday, we'd work together and eventually conquer the world as big shots in the industry (we're still figuring that last part out, by the way). Thus, I was thrilled when Zach joined Autoblog in 2010, just a couple of months after I was hired, and was equally saddened when I learned he'd be leaving us. Zach is someone I'm proud to call a colleague – nay, a friend – and I've enjoyed the voice he's brought to this line of work. I tell you this on a personal level because Zach has just published what you could arguably consider his most heartfelt piece of automotive work to date. It's a charming, emotional story about his relationship with his wife, and how they, like so many young couples, learned to make marriage work through the many ups and downs found in any solid relationship. I call this "automotive work" because Zach intertwines this tale into a story about driving his 2006 Mazda MX-5 Miata across the country, his wife by his side, learning about love and life from the cockpit of a two-seat roadster. I can honestly say it's one of the best things I've read in a long while. Rather than continue to wax poetic about Zach's latest piece, I'll let his own words speak for themselves. Head over to Road & Track to read the full piece.

Mazda books first yearly profit in half-decade, NA still a drag

Automotive News reports Mazda has posted its first annual profit in five years. The company made $364.3 million in the last fiscal year, following a $1.14 billion loss the year prior. Operating profit also jumped up by $91.3 million to $572.8 million, thanks in part to a revenue increase of 8 percent to $23.42 billion.
But the news isn't all rays of sunshine. North America continues to be a problem for Mazda where the automaker posted yet another loss. The manufacturer lost $519.1 million last year, up from $427.8 million the year prior. While the launch of the CX-5 helped see US sales increase by 2 percent to 273,000 vehicles, the region as a whole bought up 372,000 units. Mazda had predicted closer to 380,000 units.
Even so, Mazda says it should have North America back in the black by next year, with the company forecasting a sales increase of 11 percent to 415,000 units in the region. That's thanks in part to a boost from the redesigned Mazda6 sedan.

Mazda still has a team working on rotary engines

The flame still burns within Mazda to stage a rotary engine revival. Before you start getting excited, it's way too soon to start saving money for the fabled, next-gen RX-7 or RX-8. Still, company boss Masamichi Kogai confirmed to Autocar that the Japanese automaker has an engineering team dedicated to improving the Wankel. This development group has the hard task of trying to make the rotary stack up to modern internal combustion engines in terms of emissions and fuel-economy standards. Neither factor were ever exactly Wankel's strong suits. Kogai described them as working "very enthusiastically" to Autocar. The boss didn't discuss any future RX-vehicles or the size of the team, however, a report from last year indicated that there were 30 engineers in partnership with universities to update the engine's design. After problems keeping up with emissions and fuel economy, Mazda built it's last rotary for an RX-8 in June 2012. Since then, there have been intermittent rumors of a return. One possible solution was a design called the 16X that was supposed to offer more torque and better fuel economy. Another possibility was a small-displacement unit as a range-extender in an electric Mazda2. Rumors of a new RX-7 have been heard for years. In 2013, Kogai clearly said that it wasn't happening. When asked again last year, he reiterated the same point.