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Mazda reports strong Skyactiv sales, plans to boost output 25%

Mazda is set to expand production of its Skyactiv engines after critical and commercial acclaim for the fuel-sipping powerplants. The Japanese manufacturer has a number of plans in the works to bump up production, with the first being a 25-percent increase in output from its Hiroshima, Japan engine facility.
Besides adding a new line, Mazda will modify the line that built MZR engines, a family of mills that includes the 2.3-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder found in the Mazdaspeed3 and the 2.0-liter found in the MX-5 Miata. The bump in production is just part of Mazda's goal of selling 1.7 million vehicles globally by 2016, with 80 percent of those vehicles expected to wear a Skyactiv badge.
Mazda also builds Skyactiv engines at a joint-venture facility with Ford, in Changan, China, while a Mexican facility will go online by March of 2014. Skyactiv engines currently power the Mazda3, Mazda6 and CX-5.

Mazda hopes to return to Le Mans

Mazda has been away from the winner's circle at Le Mans for some time now. But it could be preparing a return to the forefront at the famous French endurance race in the near future. That is, at least, if the racing enthusiasts within its ranks get their way. "I know that the expectation for us to return to Le Mans is high. I can imagine a day when Mazda returns," Nobuhiro Yamamoto told Top Gear at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this past weekend. "I hope - as with many other Mazda fans - that we go back to Le Mans." His words hardly serve as confirmation of the Zoom-Zoom brand's intentions, but they certainly speak rather loudly to a desire within its ranks. They hardly come out of left field, either. Yamamoto-san is arguably the man best positioned to spearhead such a campaign – or would at least be best informed if such a campaign were underway. He's currently the program manager for the MX-5, and decades ago was the racing engineer behind the 787B. That Group C prototype racer represented Mazda's last major effort at taking top honors at Le Mans, and take them it did when it won the race outright in 1991. The Japanese automaker was out in force this past weekend at Goodwood, the event's central sculpture honoring Mazda's racing history, and its presence only fueling rumors that it could be preparing a renewed assault on endurance racing – potentially once again under rotary power. The 787B, motorsport history buffs will tell you, represented the first and last time to date that a Japanese manufacturer won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Although Toyota has been competing with Audi and Porsche at the front of the field with the TS040 Hybrid, it has yet to win the key race, despite having taken the FIA World Endurance Championship last year. "Everyone at Mazda would love to see the only Japanese company to ever win the 24 Hours of Le Mans return to the famed twice-around-the-clock classic," a spokesman for Mazda's North American motorsports department told Autoblog by correspondence. "Whether that'll actually happen isn't something we can discuss at this time, but, given our historical and current involvement in motorsports, our interest in the event should be no surprise to anyone. We agree with Yamamoto-san when he says he hopes it happens." So while Mazda may not be ready to confirm the prospect of its return to Le Mans, it certainly isn't ruling it out, either.

Autoblog's top 50 car photos of 2016

This one shouldn't need much explanation. We like cars a whole lot, and that includes not just driving them but taking great pictures of them. We've collected our 50 favorite images from this year in the mega-gallery above. It's a mix of old and new, with a healthy dose of vintage and modern race cars mixed in, and not one single shot under the harsh lights of an auto show. So click through and enjoy. Featured Gallery Autoblog's Top 50 Photos of 2016 View 50 Photos Image Credit: Copyright 2016 Autoblog.com Audi BMW Chevrolet Dodge Ferrari Ford Lamborghini Mazda McLaren Mercedes-Benz Porsche Rolls-Royce Volvo Convertible Coupe Motorcycle Luxury Racing Vehicles Performance Supercars Classics