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Mazda begins building Mazda3 in Mexico for US

With fluctuations in international currencies and rising shipping costs to take into account, foreign automakers can't get away with building cars overseas and selling them in North America as easily as they used to. Particularly with inexpensive mainstream models. And given the benefits of cheaper labor and free trade under NAFTA, many have opted to assemble their cars for the North American market in Mexico. That's why the likes of Toyota, Mercedes and BMW have all opened plants in Mexico. And now Mazda has followed suit.
Ground was initially broken for Mazda de Mexico Vehicle Operations at Salamanca in the state of Gunajuato back in 2011, but production has just now gotten under way. The first vehicle to roll off the line? A Mazda3 sedan destined for the United States. Soon, the plant will begin production of the next Mazda2 as well, selling it alongside its larger counterpart across the Americas and in Europe as production expands to 230,000 units annually. For more information, see the official press release below.

Mazda-Toyota partnership has us dreaming of a rotary hybrid

As you may have seen, Mazda and Toyota are going to be working a little more closely with each other. In their announcement, the two companies said they'd be building an American assembly plant together, and working on electric vehicle technology. But one of the companies' goals got our mental gears turning: It's listed as "Expand complementary products," and it's left very open-ended. The companies say they "will further explore the possibilities of other complementary products on a global level." These are in addition to Mazda providing the Mazda2 to Toyota as the Yaris iA, and Toyota providing Mazda a commercial van to sell in Japan. So what could these future complementary products be? We have a couple of ideas, one that's ludicrous but awesome (and, sadly, probably won't ever happen), and the other grounded in reality. Let's start with the fun one. What's the one thing Mazda fan has been wanting for years? A rotary sports car, of course! And while Mazda has repeatedly said that it has a small band of engineers plugging away at the spinning triangle problem, the odds of Mazda putting it into production have been slim. The inherent thirst of the rotary would make it tough to introduce when fuel economy regulations have been tightening. Plus, Mazda is a small company that needs to stretch every dollar, and having a one-off engine not based on anything else would be expensive. How could Mazda get around these obstacles? This is where the partnership with Toyota comes in, in our long-shot fantasy. Aside from having deep pockets, Toyota has a wealth of knowledge in the realm of hybrids. Thus, why not a rotary hybrid? Electrifying their oddball motor would fix two issues. One is obviously the fuel economy, since the gas engine wouldn't have to run all the time. The other is in providing torque. Rotaries infamously have little torque, especially down low, so adding an electric motor would allow this hypothetical rotary sports car to have a grunty low end, while still providing the Everest-high redline rotary fans like. The idea would be sweetened with the solid-state batteries that Toyota is developing, which could provide lots of electricity without weighing a ton. The rotary-electric mashup notion isn't totally alien to Mazda, either, since the company created an electric Mazda2 with a rotary engine for a range extender — albeit for different reasons. The company even filed a patent for the rotary range extender recently.

2018 Mazda6 Wagon: Beautiful but forbidden

Mazda has finally revealed the updated Mazda6 wagon it announced a few weeks ago. It's just as beautiful as we expected. The exterior features most of the same updates as the sedan version. They include a grille with more depth and dimension, a cleaner lower fascia, and headlights that are more integrated with the grille. Inside, the dashboard has been revised to look less cluttered, and the high-end leather and suede trimmings of the Signature trim are available. View 12 Photos Of course, the 2018 Mazda6 wagon still won't be available in America. And that's particularly disappointing, especially for this author, because the car looks so great. But we do understand the reasons why. Nobody buys wagons, at least without plastic body cladding on them. Plus, Mazda already offers the CX-5 here in the United States, and it serves effectively the same purpose, but in a much more popular crossover package. Seriously, the CX-5 is Mazda's best-seller over the last two months, selling more than twice as many as the next best-seller, the Mazda3. But there's still a silver lining to our lack of a wagon. You see, a close examination reveals that while the European Mazda6 sedan and wagon get most of the same updates as those in the American market, they won't get the 250-horsepower, 310 pound-feet of torque-producing turbocharged 2.5-liter gasoline engine we're getting. And given a choice, we would probably prefer more power than a wagon variant. The most potent engine over in Europe will remain the diesel 2.2-liter engine making 181 horsepower and 328 pound-feet of torque. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Related Gallery 2018 Mazda6 wagon View 30 Photos Image Credit: Live photos copyright 2018 Drew Phillips / Autoblog.com Geneva Motor Show Mazda Wagon 2018 Geneva Motor Show mazda6 wagon