um- Fiat/Alfa just said Mazda is the best compact sports car maker in the world. that does nothing but bolster their identity.

Miata is not becoming "less Mazda" the Alfa Spider is becoming more Mazda

 

+1

plus, japanese are in control of "how much Alfa we build in one year", i repeat, i don't see a commercial problem for MX5/miata.

there will be a more expensive version badged Alfa.

money flow is Torino---->Hiroshima

 

Precisely...

The "Alfa" version will be a MX-5/Roadster/Miata with a different skin, no different to when Mazda made Ford Lasers 323 /Telstars 626 for Ford Asia/Australia.

And I do not believe Mazda will install anything different engine wise, they are not going to import engines from Alfa and install, financial stupidity.

They both will have SA engines.

 

oh i think they'll have fiat sourced turbo multi-air engines for the Alfas. They'll also have a folding metal roof for the Spider as the only choice and the MX-5 will get cloth with the metal as an option like now. now.... will there be a coupe version...

 

Yep, definitely different engines, It won't be the first time Mazda imported engines. One of the best examples is the US market MPV from model year 2000 with an imported Ford Duratec 2.5 GY engine and then 3.0 AJ engine. Engines shipped to Japan where the vehicle is assembled and shipped to the United States. In this case it will be more akin to the Volvo S40, Ford Focus, Mazda 3 development. Mazda was the lead design team and they shared the same architecture; I guess you could say they shared the same platform. The difference in this case is they will build them all at Mazda with their differing skins, interiors and engines.

Paul.

 

Another option would be shipping the cars here without an engine.