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Toyota and Mazda in talks to build joint US auto plant

UPDATE: The Toyota-Mazda deal has been announced. A newer version of this story appears here. Toyota Motor Corp and rival Mazda Motor Corp are expected to announce plans on Friday to launch a joint venture and build a new U.S. assembly plant, a person briefed on the matter said. A new auto plant would be a major boost to U.S. President Donald Trump, who campaigned on promises to boost manufacturing and expand employment for American autoworkers. Japan's Nikkei reported on Thursday that Toyota would take a roughly five-percent stake in Mazda Motor Corp to develop key electric vehicle technologies and jointly build a factory in the United States. The deal could be announced as soon as Friday, the newspaper said. The person briefed on the matter, who was not authorized to speak to the media and requested anonymity, confirmed the Japanese carmakers were planning to build a large plant in a yet to be determined U.S. location and planned future joint efforts on electric vehicles. The same source declined to offer further details, however. Toyota, in a statement, said the two companies have been exploring various areas of collaboration under a May 2015 agreement. "We intend to submit a proposal to our board of directors today regarding the partnership with Mazda, however, we would like to refrain from providing further comment at this time," Toyota said in a statement issued by its U.S. operations. Mazda said in statement that "nothing has been decided yet" and added the company "will have a board meeting on this matter today. We cannot comment any further." Toyota, the world's second-largest automaker by vehicle sales in 2016 and Japan's dominant car company, has been forging alliances with smaller Japanese rivals for several years, effectively consolidating the Japanese auto sector. A new U.S. assembly plant would likely become the prize in a fierce competition among Midwestern and Southern states eager to expand manufacturing jobs. Trump in January criticized Toyota for importing cars to the United States from Mexico. The Republican president also threatened to impose a hefty fee on Toyota if it were to build its Corolla cars for the U.S. market at a plant in Mexico. "Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax," Trump said in a post on Twitter. But since January, Trump has praised Toyota for its U.S. investments.

Mazda engineer wants new rotary to be turbocharged

Hope springs eternal for Mazda to revive the high-revving Wankel engine for a new sports car, and the company keeps feeding that thirst with hints that it could happen. To make the possibility even more tantalizing, Mazda drivetrain and powertrain assistant manager Tetsushi Marutani tells Motoring that he wants the updated mill to pack a turbocharger. "Personally, I think that a rotary with some turbo or compressor would be good," Marutani said to Motoring. "Because a rotary, in my opinion, they require more [torque at] low speed, low down torque. So if we have some small compressor or turbo it would help." Mazda hasn't sold a rotary-powered model since the RX-8 and hasn't had a turbocharged one since the third-generation RX-7. However, the recent RX-Vision concept (above) at least hinted at a possible Wankel revival, and Mazda officials confirmed that its engineers continued to develop the engine since the RX-8's demise. The RX-Vision used a next-gen rotary called the Skyactiv-R, but Mazda didn't officially confirm any details about it. Rumors suggested the engine had a two-rotor layout with a total displacement of 1.6 liters. A two-stage electric turbo and hybrid powertrain would allegedly boost the total output of around 450 horsepower. The electric assistance could also counter the Wankel's lack of torque at low revs and poor fuel economy. Those rumored specs sound fantastic, but we still take the rotary's return with a grain of salt. Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai is adamant that it's not worth the company's limited resources to develop a niche sports coupe instead of better selling vehicles. Related Video:

Mazda shows lightweight MX-5 Spyder and Speedster at SEMA

Ever since Mazda dropped the first teaser on us last week, we've been looking forward to seeing what it had in store for us at SEMA this year. Now we've seen it what Mazda has dubbed the MX-5 Spyder and MX-5 Speedster, and they were worth the wait. The Spyder goes vintage with a silver paintjob and a brown top stretched overhead. It also has an aero kit, grille, and tonneau cover done up in carbon fiber, rides on 17-inch wheels, and features a natural leather interior. The blue Speedster, meanwhile, goes for the stripped-down, wind-in-your-hair experience. It has no roof or windshield, just a tiny deflector at the front of the dashboard. It's dropped an inch closer to the ground on an adjustable coilover suspension with 16-inch alloys, and features a center-exit exhaust. Carbon fiber helps trim 250 pounds from the curb weight, along with a stripped out interior trimmed in Alcantara. Both look pretty slick, and disappoint only in so far as they (like so many of their predecessor concepts) won't be heading for production. If they were, we'd be hard pressed to choose between the two. Which would you go for? Mazda Reveals Extreme Lightweight Design Concepts at 2015 SEMA MX-5 Concepts Display Two Different Takes on Staying True to Pure, Lightweight Sports Car Philosophy LAS VEGAS (November 3, 2015) – Mazda revealed two design concepts today at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, based on its all-new 2016 MX-5 Miata—MX-5 Spyder and MX-5 Speedster—demonstrating two vastly different takes on lightweight, open-air performance. Lightweight. Fun-to-drive. Roadster. Those three tenets have served as the foundation for the Mazda MX-5 Miata since its 1989 introduction and continue to serve the new fourth-generation model. Focused, lightweight engineering is a guiding principle of every Mazda vehicle made with SKYACTIV Technology, allowing for greater efficiency, improved performance and agile handling dynamics. But what if that sense of lightweight performance were taken to the extreme? What if Mazda's North American designers harkened back to vintage roadsters to create thoroughly modern, bespoke concepts for what a lightweight performance car should be The results would be the MX-5 Spyder and MX-5 Speedster concepts. "Both MX-5 Spyder and MX-5 Speedster are uncompromising designs that highlight the core strengths of MX-5," said Ken Saward, design manager, Mazda North American Operations.