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Will Mazda show the next Miata's chassis in NY?

Mazda is being very sneaky about what it is bringing to the New York Auto Show, and it might have something to do with the next-generation MX-5 Miata. Australian website Motoring.com.au spoke to a company insider who told it that at least the chassis for the roadster would debut in Manhattan. The rumor goes that the show will act as the kickoff for the PR campaign for the new model.
We contacted Mazda USA PR Director Jeremy Barnes to find out more, and he would neither confirm nor deny the rumor. "Just because you read it on the Internet doesn't mean you should repeat it," he said to Autoblog. That's not exactly an outright, No.
Supporting evidence that the new drop top might be appearing in the Big Apple includes Mazda's plan to celebrate the model's 25th anniversary at the show. It's bringing 15 cars from the first three generations to display. "It will be absolutely worth attending the New York Auto Show if you're a Miata fan," Barnes said. That at least hints that there might be something he's not telling us. Otherwise it's a lot of sizzle without much steak.

Mazda goes on engineer hiring binge as recovery picks up speed

Japan's larger automakers - companies like Toyota, Honda and Nissan - have tremendous engineering talent at their disposal. That's largely because, selling as many cars as they do, they've got more revenues to tap into. Logic might dictate, then, that smaller automakers like Mazda, which no longer has the deep pockets afforded to it by its former partnership with Ford, might have less of a budget and workforce for engineering. But Mazda has been raking in record profits, and it plans on cashing those revenues in by hiring a substantial new pool of engineers.
According to Automotive News, Mazda is preparing to hire as many as 185 new engineers over the next two years - almost four times as many as the 50 engineers it previously targeted. Many of those engineers will be put to work developing the second-generation, Skyactiv 2 technologies that are on the drawing board while the first round of Skyactiv features are still being rolled out.
The boost in recruitment is enabled by a positive fiscal year that ended last March, marking the first profits Mazda had logged in four years. Sources anticipate that the fiscal year culminating at the end of this month will mark the company's most profitable yet, netting over a billion dollars to eclipse the fiscal year that ended in 2008 when it recorded $872.5 million in profits.

Mazda planning more powerful MX-5?

The new Mazda MX-5 will be available with a 1.5-liter four with 129 horsepower or 2.0-liter with 155. And while either engine may seem a tad on the small side for a sports car, they keep perfectly in line with what the Miata is all about. That doesn't mean, however, that more powerful options aren't under consideration. Speaking with Motoring.com.au at the launch of the new MX-5, Mazda's global PR chief Kudo Hidetoshi revealed that two options are under consideration. One would be a larger engine, and the other a turbocharged version of the existing 2.0. The former option would deliver the extra punch while keeping things naturally aspirated and free from turbo lag, but could throw off the weight balance Mazda has worked so hard to preserve. The more likely option, then, would be the turbocharged route that would allow the Zoom-Zoom brand to keep the roadster light and nimble, while still delivering an extra boost. Neither would be without its challenges, but if overcome, the resulting high-performance model could be sold as a Mazdaspeed model in some markets and as an MPS version in others. And, even if such a performance roadster were to get the go-ahead for production in some markets, there's no guarantee that it will be sold in the United States. Here's hoping. Related Video: