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Mazda says 83 percent of new cars bear Skyactiv moniker

Mazda's US sales are down a little bit but the company's fuel economy is almost assuredly up. That's because its fuel-saving Skyactiv drivetrain technology is essentially taking over US vehicles sales. To the tune of about five out of every six vehicles sold, at least. While the Japanese automaker's US sales in February fell 2.4 percent from a year earlier, Skyactiv accounted for 83 percent of its sales last month. Most notably, Mazda6 sales jumped 46 percent from a year earlier, while Mazda CX-5 sales were up 72 percent. The company also celebrated the opening of its factory in Salamanca, Mexico, where it will make models such as the Mazda2 and Mazda3. The company is not resting on its fuel-economy laurels either, apparently. In January, it was reported the company is hard at work on its next-generation Skyactiv technology, which will boost fuel efficiency by as much as 30 percent by using diesel-like high compression. As it is, Mazda had the highest fleetwide fuel economy of any major automaker in the US for the 2013 model year with a 27.5 mile per gallon average, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Honda came in second with 27 mpg. Check out Mazda's press release below. MAZDA SKYACTIV® TECHNOLOGY SETS RECORDS IN FEBRUARY - Mazda Celebrates Grand Opening of All-New Production Facility in Salamanca, Mexico - IRVINE, Calif., March 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) today reported February U.S. sales of 24,431 vehicles, representing a decrease of 2.4 percent versus last year. Year-to-date sales through February are down 6.7 percent versus last year, with 43,155 vehicles sold. Key February sales notes: Mazda's SKYACTIV® TECHNOLOGY accounted for 83.2 percent of all vehicle sales during the month of February. This is the largest percentage of Mazdas equipped with SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY sold in one month, and second-best month of total volume ever with 20,245 vehicles sold. Mazda6 experienced its second-best February since 2008 with 3,945 vehicles sold, representing an increase of 46.0 percent, year-over-year (YOY). February 2014 was CX-5's best month ever with 9,353 vehicles sold, good for an increase of 71.6 percent, YOY. February was one of the most historic months for Mazda as it celebrated the grand opening of its all-new engine and vehicle assembly plant in Salamanca, Mexico.

Mazda plans a new crossover for 2021

If Mazda is going to increase sales, it's going to need more crossovers. According to company CEO Masamichi Kogai, a new crossover that won't cannibalize sales of the CX-3, CX-5, and CX-9 is coming in 2021, to be built at the new U.S. factory Mazda is building in partnership with Toyota. The plant will be able to build 150,000 vehicles per year, and that full capacity will be reserved for the new CUV. With 112,235 units sold, Mazda's best-selling vehicle in the United States last year was, not surprisingly, the CX-5. With that in mind, it seems a safe bet that the new crossover will be a replacement for the discontinued CX-7 to slot above the CX-5 and below the CX-9. Kogai told Automotive News that the vehicle will be designed for America and built exclusively in the States. "We are actually going to introduce a totally new and different type of SUV," said Kogai. We don't know exactly what that means, but we hope the new model line follows Mazda's tradition of crossovers that are more fun to drive than their main competitors. Related Video:

Mazda's rotary engine may live on as a range extender (UPDATE)

Update: We received a response from Mazda that confirmed plans for a 2019 electric car available in battery-only and range-extended models, but there was no comment on any other details. The text has been updated to reflect this. It may be time for rotary fans to start getting their hopes up a little for a return of the spinning triangle engine. Automotive News spoke with Mitsuo Hitomi, the man in charge of Mazda powertrains, who said there's a very good chance the next implementation of the rotary engine will be as an electric car range extender. The news source also suggests that such a vehicle could be just around the corner, since Akira Kyomen, Mazda's vehicle development program manager, confirmed to Automotive News that the company will have an EV out in 2019 in both pure electric and range-extended versions. We reached out to Mazda for more information, and a representative confirmed both the pure electric and range-extended models for 2019, but couldn't comment on anything else regarding those vehicles. Looking back, we have reason to believe that this really might happen. As far back as 2013, Mazda was working on a rotary-engine range-extended electric car in the form of the Mazda2 RE Range Extender. It had a total range of 250 miles, half of which came from its battery, the other half from a 330 cc rotary engine generator fueled by a 2.6-gallon gas tank. More recently, Mazda has also teased rotary power with the RX-Vision concept at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show and another rumored rotary concept at this year's show, which could be the design concept teased recently. But most convincing is the patent we found from Mazda that described a range-extended electric car that would specifically use a rotary engine. The powertrain layout looks just like the one used in that Mazda2 concept. There's also the fact that, as we've previously pointed out, and as Hitomi mentioned to Automotive News, the rotary could be a good range-extender due to its compact size and smoothness. Of course it also isn't known for being the most efficient engine, but if it isn't required to provide all the forward propulsion, it could be made small enough that it's frugal, and the added space and weight savings would be important for making the vehicle more practical, adding more batteries, or simply keeping the car lighter. This news might not excite rotary die-hards who have been waiting for an RX-7 and RX-8 successor, but they shouldn't quite abandon hope yet.