Mazda released first pictures and a teaser video of its brand-new Mazda 6, known in Japan as the Atenza. According to Automotive News [sub], the car will arrive stateside early next year as a 2014 model, equipped with a 2.5 liter Skyactiv engine. If you want to see and touch the car now, you have to go to Russia.
Mazda shows the 2014 Mazda6 at the 2012 Moscow Motor Show, which begins August 29 and runs through September 9, 2012.
The new Mazda6 will have the full complement of Mazda’s Skyactiv, its sheet metal is styled according to what Mazda calls the Kodo – Soul of Motion design language. It will also be the first Mazda with Mazda’s brake energy regeneration system, i-ELOOP.
While Americans get a beefier 2.5 liter engine, Russians will have to make do with a direct-injection Skyactiv-G 2.0 gasoline engine, mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. Automotine News says the U.S. version comes with a stick. More details will be revealed at a press conference on August 29, 2012 in Moscow.
The whole Skyactiv engine program is a really gutsy move, when the conventional wisdom is to improve fuel economy by adding batteries, electric motors, and lots of variables. It’ll be interesting to see how their approach scales up to larger vehicles like this one.
SkyActiv, at best, brings Mazda to more-or-less parity with most other cars, whereas before they were class-trailing.
There’s no magic, here; no secret sauce.
I like Mazda, but I think that a lot of people bought into the marketing and have an inherent, ludditish, issue with hybrid power. We want SkyActiv to be more than it is, but when you have, eg, Toyota acing Consumer Reports’ non-hybrid rankings with a base, four-speed-equipped Corolla, it deserves some critical thought.
But they did it without adding complexity. They achieved the mileage without having to add a turbo like GM, Dodge or Ford, or radical variable valve timing like Fiat. They made stratified charge work without having to have separate fuel injectors or additional valves. The skyactiv diesels meet emissions without using urea injection. They achieved great gas mileage with a conventional auto trans without going to CVT. The Skyactiv cars achieve great gas mileage without sacrificing handling by going to rock hard high-mileage tires. If you were an engineer you would appreciate this suite of technology.
You are right about the Corolla and the Yaris though- these cars managed to hang with the latest crop of 40mpg with utterly conventional technology. But then these cars are also lighter than the Mazda 3. Hopefully the next gen Mazda 3 will be lighter.
Huh? I am amazed the ‘skyactive’ buzz word gets so much love. Direct Injection and Nice trannies? WoW isnt’t this how the Cruze and the Focus get 40mpg just like the Mazda 3. Not that any of those cars REALLY get 40mpg.
The amusing part is Volkswagen with its diesels blow the crap out of it in real world testings. Guess they need some fancy moniker..
How about “Green Planet”, “Clean Planet”, “Eco-Clean”, “Blue Horizon”
Honestly, I think the ‘hype’ and the ‘love’ is founded on Mazda’s approach to complying with increasing CAFE standards. While everyone is going down the road of either hybridization or downsize-and-boost, Mazda decided to improve upon the basic process of internal combustion itself – which I do think is a gutsy move if it pans out well, especially because any of the other approaches could have possibly alienated their enthusiast buyers.
Turbochargers are still a question mark in many people’s minds especially low displacment, high powered mills and hybridization – well,, nuff said about that!
In the long term, this can only play out well for Mazda as hopefully, they will have enough of an expertise on these high compression DI engines – the way VW had built expertise on their diesel engines. Speaking of which, VW diesels will still blow it out of the water – no questions there. But I like Mazda’s approach – any day better than a hybridized gasoline engine!!
But Volkswagen HAS a fancy moniker, never heard of BlueMotion?
…which I always confuse with BlueEfficiency and BluePerformance. At one point, I even thought they all pointed to the same manufacturer. Until I discovered that they didn’t…
First it’s Green this and that. Now it’s Blue this and that. What next? Purple? Brown? Yellow? Or something more exotic like “Mauve”? Mauveficiency? BrownMotion? Eww, that doesn’t sound good…
Awaiting details on the 2.2L Diesel engine that has been promised for North America…
If they offered that engine in the 6, I’d probably buy it shortly after it goes on sale.
But they once said that it will not be offered (initially) in the 6 in the US. My best guess is that they will first introduce it to the US in the 2014 CX-5. If it sells, I’d expect the 2015 Mazda6 to get it, too. I also expect it to appear in the next CX-9 (I expect it to be a 2015 MY).
There’s no question it’s a good-looking car, and Mazda has a reputation for getting the weight and handling right. My main question is the size: I never realized how enormous the current 6 is until I rented one for a week and felt like I was in a Caprice. The previous generation was my favorite midsize, mainstream sedan, ever; here’s hoping they can get that feeling back, and maybe find a sweet spot just a little bigger than the previous-gen 6 with a usable rear seat.
“…maybe find a sweet spot just a little bigger than the previous-gen 6 with a usable rear seat.”
Isn’t that previous generation Mazda6 with a usable rear seat available now, with cash on the hood, as the 2012 Ford Fusion?
It looks good but it’s hard to tell from those few glimpses.
I’d probably prefer it with the 2.0L engine, presuming they keep the weight down the way they did with the CX-5. I have driven the CX-5 and it has enough oomph to satisfy me. I can see where some would want a 2.5L option.
The CX-5 impressed me, by the way, as an awesomely nice CUV for $21.5K, delivered.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the 2.0 is available as the “Mazda6 i” and the 2.5 is the “Mazda6 s” (Basically, the 2.5L replaces the V6.)
I agree that the 2.0L is adequate for the CX-5, and I would hope the new 6 weighs less.
Diesel CX-5 was supposed to be here this fall, it now sounds like it’ll be early 2014. Sales in Japan were predicted at 1000 a month of the diesel, they’re at 8000 (Japanese typically avoid diesels). Europe has a 3+ month waiting list for a diesel model.
It’s interesting that it is coming with a 2.5 gasoline sky-activ, before Mazda had stated that the 2.o gas and 2.2 diesel would be all the engine’s anyone could want. Having a 2.5 available in the 6 and hopefully the 5 and cx-5 will make the world of difference.
For those beating down on sky-activ… real world testing and most other car testing sites have found much better fuel economy from the sky-activ than competitors. A Canadian comparison test found 7.2l/100km as opposed to the Cruze Eco at over 8.
For me; I want a CX-5 with the 170bhp diesel for my wife, the 5 with the 150bhp diesel for me; and to get my in-laws into a cx-5 and a 6 with the 170bhp diesel. I grew up driving diesels and love the way a modern diesel drives (so much torque) plus the fuel savings. 60mpg imperial is achievable in the cx-5.
I think the new 6 looks awesome; it’s lightweight too. I really, really like Mazda at the moment, having been a Honda guy. Hope they can figure out their manufacturing (ie. not Japan) so they stop haemorraging money.
Early 2014…? How do you know this or are you just speculating?
Slight aside, Mazda’s Facebook page last week wrote that the Sky-D will be here in North America “before we know it”. While that is vague, it does imply shorter term rather than longer term.
The one thing that Mazda does well is affordable, everyday cars with excellent handling. If the CX-5 CUV can enthrall our Jack Baruth, who did nearly sixty laps of Laguna Seca in it (“The first three were for you, dear readers; the rest were for *me*.”), I can’t wait to see what the new Mazda team can do with a regular sedan. I certainly am one of those who wants the “…brake pedal that talks to their foot”. Here’s hoping that wasn’t just marketing hype…
I think the entire SkyActive approach has roots in two realities:
– Mazda doesn’t have the resources to go into the hybrid pool straight away
– Mazda’s ethos/brand image has been nimble and lightweight
Given those two factors I think it is easy to see why the SkyActive approach makes sense as an intermediate measure.
I do think they have more robust plans at some point, as evident by the rumors of a rotary reappearing within a hybrid context.
Back to the current environment.
While I agree that the current SkyActive lineup is a catch-up, I think the SkyActive diesels are potential game changers for Mazda.
VW has proven that diesels are viable at this price point and that is with their horrendous reputation for reliability (please spare me the debate).
Mazda has consistently been better at reliability and been at least equal in sporting intentions as VW.
As such I think a SkyActive diesel Mazda6 would be miles ahead of a Passat/Jetta. I don’t think they are really gearing towards catching CamCords 1-2 crown, but they can be 3 and I think that would make this a home run for Mazda.
Will the US get its own version, like the last generation? I’m guessing not, given its lousy sales.
Being a Mazda fan..from what I have read is that they have made it slightly smaller than the current one however bigger than the last. It will be the same car as the Euro version. They are trying to cut cost and offering one model makes sense.
I cannot understand Mazda. The Skyactiv-D has the potential to be a HUGE game changer here in the US and yet they’re taking their sweet time announcing it.
The new 6 looks great and not having the Sky-D available from the get go is a mistake. Ditto for the CX-5. Yes, the CX-5 is selling like gangbusters right now, but I suspect there are a lot of people (like myself) who won’t step foot in a Mazda showroom until the Sky-D is offered. Give the paying customer what they want and they will beat a path to your door. I want a CX-5 diesel NOW.
I think it has more to do with the current demand for the SkyActive d platform than they had anticipated in Japan and Europe. See “theonlydt” comment above.
I agree. I’m hoping the recently announced doubling of their engine production capacity means they are gearing up to send the diesels here.
310 ft-lb torque + 43 mpg hwy? What fool would say no to that?
It hasn’t been mentioned yet but I am a little sad that there will not be v6 option. Which I would vastly prefer over the 2.5L. Idk but when I test drove a first gen 6 with the 5-spd auto and the 2.3L it just left a bad taste in my mouth. I love the car but the gears were insanely too tall. I felt like I had to completely wind out the gears to go anywhere. Very slugglish. However, when I test drove the v6 its felt right. Like that engine was supposed to be in that car.
There’s always hope for a turbo model; or a diesel if that’s your thing. I don’t think Mazda has developed a V6 since the Mazda Millenia. Everything since then has been Ford supplied.
Man, that is one damn good lookin sedan.
I wonder why they don’t put a 2.0 base engine in there. Maybe they want to create some distance between the gas version and the diesel version? Nobody would buy the diesel if the gas version can also get an EPA rated 40mpg (the EPA rating is too optimistic for gas engines and too passemistic for diesels)
I really like this new styling direction. It seems like a direct continuation of the Mazda design language from a few years ago, before they went with the ridiculous happy face, and feels like this should have been the design all along.