1983 Mazda Rx-7 Gs Coupe 2-door 1.1l on 2040-cars

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China's FAW now building all three Mazda6 generations

The Chinese auto market is one of the most interesting in the world to look at. Its automakers appear to still be figuring things out and remain open to experimentation. For example, at this moment, you can buy new copies of all three generations of the Mazda6 from showrooms there.
Mazda joint-venture partner FAW recently introduced the latest generation to China as the Mazda6 Atenza, according to Just Auto. Yet buyers still have the option of getting the previous generation as well, which is sold as the Mazda6 Ruiyi. Obviously, that isn't too remarkable - companies in the US have briefly sold two generations of the same nameplate simultaneously for brief points in the past, and the practice is much more common in developing markets. However, Chinese consumers still have the third choice, too - the first-generation model that dates back to the early 2000s, is still on offer, known simply as Mazda6.
While it would be hard to imagine selling three generations of the same models at once in the US, the idea is an interesting one. We enjoyed our long-term test of the latest generation, and the previous models weren't bad cars either, so provided there's a healthy difference in pricing and marketplace confusion is limited by differing names, we can see it working. If nothing else, it's a fascinating illustration of how broad China's developing auto market really is.

Oliver Jarvis in a Mazda takes pole in star-studded Rolex 24 at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Oliver Jarvis broke a 26-year-old record at Daytona International Speedway in putting the Mazda DPi from Team Joest on the pole for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Jarvis went to the top of the scoring chart early in Thursday's qualifying session with a lap at 1 minute, 33.685 seconds. It broke the mark by two-tenths of a second set by P.J. Jones in 1993 in a GTP-class Toyota. The Englishman spoiled a strong run by Team Penske, which qualified second and third for the twice-round-the-clock endurance race that begins Saturday. Ricky Taylor earned the second spot in Penske's Acura ARX-05, while teammate Juan Pablo Montoya was third in his first time qualifying the sports car for the organization. Team Joest wound up first and fourth on the starting grid with Jonathan Bomarito putting its second car on the second row. Felipe Nasr had the fastest Cadillac DPi-V.R in fifth for Action Express Racing. Nasr is the reigning IMSA champion and led the way for four more Cadillacs in qualifying. Jordan Taylor was sixth for Wayne Taylor Racing, ahead of Juncos Racing's Agustin Canapino, then Tristan Vautier and Stephen Simpson for JDC-Miller Motorsports. James Allen in an Oreca 07 Gibson for DragonSpeed won the LMP2 pole. In the GT Le Mans class, Nick Tandy put a Porsche on the pole as four different manufacturers qualified in the first two rows. IMSA GTLM champion Jan Magnussen of Corvette Racing was second, Ryan Briscoe in a Ford GT for Chip Ganassi Racing was third and followed by Davide Rigon in Risi Competizione's Ferrari 488. Marcos Gomes gave Via Italia's Ferrari 488 the pole in the GT Daytona class. Related Video:

Mazda struggles to meet demand on rising sales

For Mazda there's good and not-so-good news on the heels of strong US sales in 2012: demand is high - especially for the Mazda3, Mazda6 and CX-5 - but supply is low, TheDetroitBureau.com reports. That's partly because all Mazda production happens in Japan, since it ended its alliance with Ford and pulled out of a joint venture with the blue oval building cars in suburban Detroit last year.
In 2012, Mazda sales here jumped 26.4 percent, but 2013 sales through August have just been keeping pace with the overall US auto industry, increasing at a rate of 6.8 percent. Mazda North American Operations director of marketing and communications Jeremy Barnes says that sales have slowed because the company is facing challenges delivering products here.