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Mazda Vision Coupe | Tokyo Motor Show's big, sensuous 4-door

Mazda has been making a lot of noise recently about not giving up on the rotary engine. Enough that we started to think it might show a new epitrochoid-engined concept at this year's Tokyo Motor Show. But the brand is nothing if not surprising. Have you driven a CX-5 or a CX-9? Have you noted the real-world fuel economy in a Mazda3? Have you looked at a Miata RF? So instead of trotting out the latest in Wankel weirdness, today in its home market, the Mazda folks pulled the silk off of a stunning full-size four-door design concept, the somewhat inaptly named Vision Coupe. Known mainly for sporty and affordable small(ish) vehicles, Mazda hasn't really had an entry in this category since ... ever. Well, save for the staid and short-lived 929 of the '90s (and the rotary-powered, 7/8-scale Olds Cutlass, JDM-only Roadpacer of the '70s.) As customers flock to crossovers, it's not exactly a category brimming with vitality, at least in the American market — sales of the existing Mazda 6 are down in the States by nearly 25 percent this year, double the market average for cars. And this thing is bigger than that. But the decision is intentional and strategic in Mazda's mission to head upscale and focus on clean design — differentiators from its mass-market Japanese peers. "A big sedan has always been the symbol of a brand going premium. It's the icon of a brand," says Julien Montousse, Mazda North America's director of design. "It tells that Mazda is becoming serious in reaching that goal." Breaking even more conventions, while Mazdas generally are cohesive and well-rendered in their design, you would be hard-pressed to find one quite this sensuous. The Vision Coupe looks like an Aston Martin Rapide that has been placed in a sauna until its body-mass index has whittled down to marathoner levels, and then scalloped and stripped of any unnecessary ornamentation, save for a kind of fingerprinted whorl in its side cove. It is elemental, at once planar and burnished, with the lovely long-hood/short-deck proportions of a classic front-engine, rear-wheel-drive grand tourer. Its interior is similarly edited, doing away with the proliferating screens of other vehicles in the category, utilizing instead a digital analog instrument panel and a sophisticated heads-up display that keeps a driver focused on the road and shows just what is deemed necessary, and nothing else.

Mazda keeping non-hybrid, non-electric Skyactiv strategy

Mazda still thinks that it can buck the trend of adding those fancy batteries and electric motors to its cars. At least for a little while longer. Hopefully. Speaking to Auto Express recently, Mazda's European boss, Jeff Guyton, said that he expects his company's cars to be able to get a lot more efficient without resorting to any of that fancy electrification stuff. "I think there's at least 20-30 percent better fuel economy by the end of the decade," he said. He said that he expected to get to Europe's low target of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometer, "without any significant deployment of electrical drive." This part is all in line with Mazda's long-term Skyactiv strategy, as laid out back in 2011 and first mentioned publicly in 2010. Remember, this is the company that once proudly proclaimed, "Not Electric. Not Hybrid. Not A Drag To Drive." As explained back in 2011, Mazda hopes to wait until other automakers have done all of the heavy lifting on developing plug-in and hybrid tech so that when Mazda enters the market, things will be cheaper. Of course, Mazda has been quietly testing all-electric vehicles and Guyton said that there may be an Mazda EV at some point. "We are interested in electric technology and it will be in the distant future when it will be quite important," he told AE. "But we think it will take some time to be commercially attractive without tax payer-funded incentives." How much of a delay? Well, there is a gas-electric Mazda 3 hybrid available in Japan that uses some powertrain parts from the Toyota Prius, and we all know that the Prius has been around for ages. Maybe in 2025, Mazda will come out with a Leaf-based Mazda 2. Related Video: Green Mazda Fuel Efficiency Electric Hybrid skyactiv mazda skyactiv

Mazda CX-3 to be diesel-only in Japanese home market

Diesel power. It's not just for Europeans anymore. In fact, when Mazda introduces its new CX-3 compact crossover to its home market of Japan, the model will be exclusively diesel-powered, Reuters says, citing remarks made by Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai. Consistent with its recent push for better fuel economy, Mazda is embracing diesel power as a way to boost fuel-economy for cars that may be larger than the compact variety. Mazda, which plans to make about 150,000 gas- and diesel-powered CX-3s for global consumption per year, is pricing the diesel CX-3 at about $20,000 in Japan. Diesel sales accounted for less than three percent of new-vehicle sales in Japan last year, so there's a risk to Mazda's strategy. But the automaker, which is the fifth-largest in Japan, says performance and noise (and smoke) issues largely associated with diesel powertrains in the past have largely been eliminated. In all, Mazda expects worldwide sales for the year ending March 31 to rise almost five percent from a year earlier to about 1.4 million units. Mazda showed off an early version of the CX-3 at the Los Angeles Auto Show last November, though North American versions of the model will indeed be gas-powered. Related Video: Featured Gallery 2016 Mazda CX-3: LA 2014 View 17 Photos News Source: Reuters Green Mazda Diesel Vehicles mazda cx-3