Mazda Vision Coupe on ice as SUVs take priority Car News

Mazda is rolling out its new rear-drive platform and straight-six engines for the CX-60 SUV and three other models to follow, but a production version of the company’s admired Vision Coupe concept looks increasingly unlikely. , five years after its reveal – and it’s no wonder SUVs are to blame.

The Vision Coupe was unveiled at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show as the flagship of the brand’s new Kodo design language – which has since been rolled out to a series of production models, including the Mazda MX- 30 EV, the Mazda 3 hatchback and the all-new CX -60.

It followed in the footsteps of 2015’s more performance-oriented RX Vision concept and also promoted the Japanese company’s “less is more” philosophy. The firm never said outright that it planned to put the concept into production, but it was thought to closely preview the next-generation Mazda 6 sedan, which was to take on the BMW 5 Series with a new range of six-engine engines. cylinders in line.

But now Mazda has focused on developing more popular SUV models in the vein of its new flagship CX-60 – the first model in its lineup to use native rear-drive architecture, dashing hopes of a low and slender model. sedan to rival five-door coupes in the vein of the Volkswagen Arteon and Mercedes-Benz CLA.

Mazda Europe’s Joachim Kunz said: “This SUV trend continues, and even more so for Mazda. This is what sells best.

“It would be very good… to have the FR [front-engine, rear-driven] six-cylinder concept and engine for a Mazda 6 successor or a large sports coupe. We would like to have it, but at this point the most important thing is to sell SUVs. »

Kunz’s remarks raise questions about the likelihood of a successor to today’s Mazda 6, which was launched in 2012 and heavily updated in 2018. Mazda has confirmed two new models to follow the CX-60 at European dealerships: the rotary-engine range-extender version of the MX-30 and the seven-seat version of the CX-60, which will carry the CX-80 badge. Meanwhile, it will launch the wider CX-70 and CX-90 SUVs, also at the pinnacle of rear-wheel-drive architecture.