Salt Truck: Life-Saving QR Codes, Mazda rumours, and Lister is back (kinda)

Choose your Own Salty Adventure – Mazda6 Diesel Hybrid, Mazda6 Coupe, Mazdaspeed3, Etc.

The folks at Motor Trend seem to know everything there is to know about Mazda for the foreseeable future. Including the much-rumoured and almost-certain Mazdaspeed3, MT spins a whole article about plans for a number of models, most of them vapourware.

Other than the Mazdaspeed3, MT believes will see the following Kodo-faced cars in the next couple of years:
Mazda6 Diesel Hybrid
Mazda6 Coupe
Mazdaspeed6
Mazdaspeed2
Mazda1
RX-9
Unnamed electric vehicle
Rotary engine range extender

Let’s start with the plausible options, of which a hybrid with a rotary range extender actually seems the most likely.

Mazda in North America has only a mild-hybrid system, called i-ELOOP, which uses regenerative braking to supply power to electrical components by way of a capacitor instead of a traditional battery pack. Even though Mazda has one of the best CAFE ratings of all brands available in the US, the little Japanese independent needs a hybrid in their ranks to bring in another type of buyer.

A full hybrid with a small rotary engine – something Mazda has already demonstrated with their current generation Mazda2 – seems like something the automaker could put together in fairly short order. And considering the small size of rotary engines, it could easily be put to use in small cars, a segment where it’s harder and harder to find significant fuel economy gains from an engineering perspective unless you go full electric, or nearly. Mazda could also use this for a Mazda6 Hybrid, but…

2015 Mazda3 Sport GT, 2014 Mazda6 (actual factual production cars). Click image to enlarge

… a Mazda6 Diesel Hybrid? Not a chance. At least, not a chance on our shores. Mazda needs to first bring us the non-hybrid diesel they promised us two years ago before they even think about bringing us the vaunted holy grail of fuel economy.

Just as likely is a Mazda6 Coupe. If Motor Trend said there’s a chance of getting a Mazda3 with two doors instead of four, that might be somewhat believable, but the two-door midsize market is dead with only Honda still fielding a competitor with the Accord Coupe.

And do you know what definitely isn’t going to happen before 2020? Any performance Mazda model outside the established MX-5 and Mazdaspeed3. Being an independent automaker allows you some creative license, but also limits your possibilities at the same time. Unfortunately for us, Mazda just doesn’t have the capital to fund development of five different performance models, even if they are using similar components.

Which brings us to the remaining member of the list – the Mazda1 – a car that hasn’t had much buzz around it. There’s a reason for that as well.

Unlike other builders of small cars, Mazda does not currently operate in one of the biggest emerging markets in the world: India.

CEO Masamichi Kogai hinted the automaker could return to India and also use it as an export hub. But, until a solid decision is made on the future of Mazda in emerging markets, consider the Mazda1 an idea sitting in the freezer.