Mazda does a slow striptease with its critical new, 2014 Mazda6 sedan.
Every so often, a carmaker’s future comes to depend upon the success – or failure – of a single product. The original, 1986 Ford Taurus is one of the best examples. Could the next-generation Mazda6 fall into that group? Here’s a first teaser image of the new sedan.
While the Japanese maker does have a number of other important offerings none feeds a more important segment of the market. And no product will mark a more critical transition for Mazda, which has abandoned its long-running joint venture with Ford in Flat Rock, Michigan, moving production of the next Mazda6 back to Japan.
The third product to share the maker’s new SkyActiv technology, the 2014 Mazda6 will also face the challenge of coming to market right after the launch of updated entries from key competitors – starting with the 2012 Toyota Camry remake and running through 2013 with the new Nissan Altima, Honda Accord, Chevrolet Malibu and, from former ally Ford, an all-new Fusion.
The Mazda Takeri Concept, first seen in Tokyo last autumn featured a diesel SkyActiv drivetrain.
Can Mazda stand out in this crowded field? Along with pitching its high-mileage SkyActiv technology, expect the Hiroshima-based maker to promote its edgy styling which is expected to borrow heavily from the Takeri Concept vehicle we first saw at the Tokyo Motor Show last autumn.
The name, Mazda casually informed us back then, means “male,” and suggested the prototype “of midsize proportions” featured both technology and design cues that “could undoubtedly make their way into a future production model. That includes not only the sleek, coupe-like roof-line of the Takeri Concept, but also the show car’s SkyActiv diesel engine.
There’s no question the Mazda6 will be critical to Mazda’s future but SkyActiv is absolutely fundamental. SkyActiv is an entire design process aimed at improving efficiencies, with an emphasis on lightweighting. The maker’s engineers have attacked virtually every element of the new Mazda6, down to the design of its water pump and lug nuts hoping to shave off a few grams here, another few there.
But it’s the engine technology that most attention will focus on. The maker is betting it can deliver diesel-like mileage out of its gasoline engines and hybrid-level fuel economy out of its diesels – Mazda expecting to bring a diesel over to the U.S. in the very near future.
The first SkyActiv powertrain premiered on the recently re-launched Mazda3, while the full monty SkyActiv treatment was used on the subsequent Mazda CX-5 crossover. The Mazda6 will take things a step further.
The maker has been reluctant to offer up much information about the new sedan, the new teaser video revealing just 15 seconds of sheet metal close-ups.
Among the questions unanswered are what powertrain – or powertrains – will Mazda bring to the U.S. market. Considering its focus on fuel economy, most observers anticipate it will abandon a six, like competitors including Hyundai and Chevrolet, and go with only an inline-four. But if the current, 155-horsepower 2.0-liter I-4 in the CX-5 is being faulted for anything it’s a lack of Mazda’s traditional zoom-zoom performance, so it remains to be seen if a six will be back or perhaps a beefed up four.
And will Mazda add a diesel to the midsize line, as it boldly hinted with the Takeri Concept?
Apparently, we’re going to have to wait to get those answers. The timing of the teaser suggests we’ll not get much more out of Mazda on the 2014 Mazda6 until at least the Los Angeles Auto Show next autumn.