Mazda boss confirms rotary commitment but stays tightlipped

Rotary engines will continue to be part of Mazda's powertrain strategy going forward. That's the good news delivered by the brand's heavy-hitting but tight-lipped vice president, Bob Graziano, to Australian media this week.

While the lion's share of Mazda models will use next-generation, but essentially conventional petrol and diesel powerplants, Graziano says the maker has committed to continue to develop the signature wankel engine.

And though the ex-Ford exec dodged direct questions on whether the development of what was essentially a low-volume powerplant made fiscal sense, he stated categorically that Mazda would continue to develop rotaries into its next generation of vehicles as part of a three-pronged powertrain strategy.

"We're very proud of the fact we have rotary -- it's been a bit part of our past and it will be a big part of our future," Graziano told the Carsales Network.

"We consider it [rotary] to be an integral part of the brand going forward just as petrol and diesel will be. We are looking at it within the investments we have announced as part of our advancement plan to improve and advance the powertrain line-up across our reach."

The investment Graziano is referring to is Mazda's commitment to increase research and development spending by 30 per cent between now and 2010 and capital investment by 50 per cent in the same period.

Currently Mazda is experimenting with hydrogen-fuelled rotaries and will supply 30 RX-8s to the HyNor hydrogen highway pilot project in Norway (more here).

When quizzed on how Mazda could make low-volume engine production economical when others -- including shareholder Ford -- are pushing for million-plus unit engine plants, Graziano said: "I can't comment on what others are saying with respect to scale efficiencies but Mazda plants in particular are pretty efficient and we continue to try to become more efficient as we move forward."

Nor would Graziano be drawn on a timetable for the introduction of Mazda's direct fuel-injection new generation rotary, the 16X. Shown at last year's Tokyo motor show, the 16X promises considerable improvements in both fuel economy and emissions.

Graziano is effectively Mazda's product boss in addition to responsibilities for R&D, the environment, IT and the company's Chinese business strategies and implementation. But he wasn't talking about future product this week and remained resolutely tight-lipped through heavy questioning regarding future rotary models, in particular the new RX-7.

"At this point what we're looking at is continuing to evolve RX-8 and that's where we are with the whole sportscar theme in terms of what we can talk about with future products. The RX-8 is going to be with us for quite some time.

"We've got to work within the constraints we've got from a resource perspective. We're now rolling out the second generation of products, bringing new capacity online, we're upgrading our powertrains, so there's a lot that's going on at Mazda. And we've got to remain resolutely focused on where we're headed."

Graziano stopped short of 'killing off' the iconic Mazda sportscar, however.

"I'll never say there will never be anything in the future -- it depends on where the market goes, where Mazda goes, what we need in terms of our future growth from a brand perspective..."

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