ASH8

Today is a sad day for the RE!

HIROSHIMA, Japan

-- Masa-michi Kogai, the new CEO of Mazda Motor Corp., has set what looks like an impossibly high bar for reintroducing the company's rotary engine.

Sales would have to total 100,000 a year for Mazda to resurrect the technology, he said. So Mazda isn't planning a rotary revival, he said.

"No plans now," Kogai said in an interview Friday. "It has to be a viable commercial proposition. If we are going to adopt it, it has to be a product that can generate at least sales of 100,000 units a year. We have to be able to achieve a profit."

Kogai, a no-nonsense production veteran with a knack for cost crunching, took office in June after overhauling the company's manufacturing.

Among his coups: transforming Mazda's erstwhile loss-making Japan operations into a lean export machine able to post profits with tough foreign exchange rates.

The rotary engine had been a Mazda bragging point ever since the company became the first to market the technology in 1968, in its Familia Rotary Coupe/Mazda R100.

But the company killed the powerplant last year when the last RX-8 sports car rolled off the line. The engine is also known as the Wankel after the German engineer who invented it.

A rebirth has been the subject of incessant speculation -- often fueled by Mazda itself. Last year, then-President Takashi Yamanouchi dangled the idea of putting a rotary in a hybrid vehicle to generate electricity that would charge the battery.

Nothing has come of that so far.

The engine's chief hurdle is technical -- meeting today's more stringent emissions regulations. It would also mean giving valuable production capacity to a unique small-batch model.

In 2011, the RX-8's last full-year of sales in the United States, Mazda sold only 759 of the cars in its biggest market. The RX-8's peak annual sales in the United States were 23,690 units in 2004, according to the Automotive News Data Center. The rotary-powered RX-7's U.S. sales peak was 56,203 units in 1986.

At today's lean Mazda, which just booked its first annual profit in five years, the new priorities are cost performance, economies of scale and uniform manufacturing. So it's hardly receptive to what some may see as vanity projects.

Still, Kogai said Mazda hasn't completely abandoned the notion. Engineers continue to research the technology, he said, in part because the rotary engine can run flexibly on a wide variety of fuels, including gasoline, hydrogen and even kerosene.

"We are the first and only manufacturer to commercialize the rotary engine. In that respect, we have some responsibility," Kogai said. "So please allow us to continue our research."


Read more: http://www.autonews.com/article/2013...#ixzz2kz2BOxAg
Follow us: @Automotive_News on Twitter | AutoNews on Facebook

ASH8

RX-8 stocks (value) has just hit a new high (where I live)....

J8635621

iTrader: (10)

Is it cool for people to post the same thing in multiple places around the forum now?

ASH8

It is relevant to the threads ( 'RX-8 Media News' and 'Any New Rotary?' ) and I considered this very important news to those who have subscribed in those particular threads so 'they' are aware of this news...I hope this is cool enough and OK for/with you?

Carbon8

iTrader: (4)

Does this mean my 8 now has resale value, .

MattMPS

i think that this means "END" for the Rotary Sportscar bloodline.

i think that this engine could be used in an hybrid and/or with alternative fuels.

not completely over yet, but it's over for Rx "franchise".....

bse50

Nope, it means it's a piece of junk with a limited time of engine parts availability.
Perhaps in 20 years from now it will be worth 20k with low miles and in pristine conditions.

While peculiar it was still a mass production car!

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

I think as long as there is a demand for parts, there will be a supply available.
If there is a market, someone will be there making money.
Murica!

yomomspimp06

my feelings are hurt and I just lost a bet

Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

bse50

I reckon car manufacturers have to warrant a part supply for at least 10 years after the cessation of a certain model.
Meh, who cares... i sold my rx8

wcs

iTrader: (2)

Well this sucks.
Not sure how I feel entirely about this ...

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

fukin treehuggers and their damn emissons

wcs

iTrader: (2)

I kind of feel bad for some of the new members that already paid too much for their Series 1 RX8.
I'm with bse50 this is going to further ruin the resale value.

Which ... funny enough makes me want to go out and beat the dealers up on price and get another RX8!!!!

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

Resale value only matters if you want to sell it.
I hope to keep mine.

wcs

iTrader: (2)

^^^ Agreed
And maybe buy a second!

One for each season perhaps?

Winter = white
Spring = Green
Summer = Blue
Fall = Red

Carbon8

iTrader: (4)

I believe this is appropriate here!

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

I like it, but black for winter, want to stand out, not be winter camo.

SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

So we're back to the Miata MX-5 being the only RWD Mazda car.

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

Where exactly does it say the rotary is "finished" ...

Reread the snippet, and you will see the following terms many times:

"No plans now,"
hasn't completely abandoned the notion
Engineers continue to research

As with anything, take with a grain of salt. This article means nothing. From a marketing perspective it benefits Mazda to release a statement like this to reduce the number of hold-off sales due to people waiting for "the next rotary". This article did nothing but tickle the fancy of those who now want to go out and buy an rx8 for the purposes of "oh man its the last rotary EVARRRR".

As with most of the stuff posted by the OP as a "i told you so", this article serves nothing more than a PR game.

case and point. Im sure the financial advisors didnt see this one coming at all ... no no


smh

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

I read there were encouraging words spoken by someone from MNAO at SevenStock, but I haven't heard what they were.

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

Its always easier (and wiser from a financial standpoint) for companies to say "no we can't" and then surprise the masses then it is for them to say "oh we surely will!" and to fail to provide the promise and tarnish their stock.

zoom44

im with paimon. plus the emissions bit bolded by Ash in the article isnt quoted from Kogai-san. it's the reporter writing from past/current info on the reason there is no current production. so the hurdles going forward are profit /production numbers and state of 16X development(whereas 16x is standing in for whatever they internally call the current in-development engine)

ASH8

Get a grip ...Sadly it is finished, what part of it don't you understand, do you honestly believe Mazda are still spending time and money on a project which is not going to happen.

I want to see a RE too, but it is not going to happen IF they cant make/sell 100,000 units a year, something Mazda has not done for a very long time.

Plus for North America they have to warrant any engine (EMISSIONS) for 8 years.
The are still bleeding $$ over the Rennny in USA.

It wont sell in Europe and it wont sell in quantities in USA ONLY, and they certainly wont make one only for USA.

"No Plans now" now means finished where I come from, so where are the numbers...

Grow up Paimon and get over it...

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

The new CEO doesn't seem as "fun friendly" as prior CEOs.

But as I've said before, until they actually disassemble the rotary engineering lab and fire / transfer the rotary engineers, they aren't actually done with it, and something could easily be found in the future. This doesn't mean that I think it's around the corner, but until they make a definitive statement of action by disolving their rotary research completely then the hope still exists that the nut-cases can figure out a way to make it happen. It doesn't surprise me that a CEO that started in accounting would insist on figures like that, and no, I don't think they are easily attainable. But 14:1 compression ratio on pump gas wasn't supposed to be possible either, and they did it.

I'll never bet against someone at Mazda doing something that the rest of the world thinks is impossible or even impractical. It's a losing bet.

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

And that is the difference between you ... the consumer, and them, the engineers. You view things as "can'ts" and "wonts" ... we (engineers) see things as challenges and voids for innovations.

It isn't about growing up and getting over it ... you need to get a better understanding of how the consumer market and corporate planning, and engineering work, and how the PR of today affects the investment future of tomorrow.

What is more shameful is that you feel that you are the authority in all things Mazda my friend. Accept the fact that smart business will surely keep a tight lip on innovation, its plans, and its progress