Mazda doubles down on internal combustion with its new engines.
BMW and Mercedes-Benz are facing an unlikely challenger developing straight-six engines: Mazda. Jalopnik originally came upon an investor presentation documenting the company’s recent fiscal results, where one page details interesting expansions in its powertrains. In that presentation, there is a new mild-hybrid system and an independently-developed battery EV. That’s not too surprising, but Mazda also mentioned straight-six gas and diesel engine development.
That’s a bit out of left field, but the straight-six engine is making a comeback. BMW has stuck with it for awhile, and Mercedes-Benz is ditching its old V6 powerplants in favor of new straight-six units. That said, they are both large German manufacturers, with resources to devote to these sort of engines. But Mazda? The fact that they’re developing straight-six gas and diesel engines came as a surprise.
More specifically, the company is working on “large architecture” versions of its SkyActiv-X and SkyActiv-D engines. The presentation mentions a “2nd-generation” diesel engine, meaning we could soon see the next form of an engine that only just arrived in the CX-5 here in the U.S.
We have yet to see even the four-cylinder SkyActiv-X gas engine, either. However, that should arrive later this year, packing somewhere around 180 horsepower. At least, that’s if the European models are a point of reference. It will be interesting to see where these engines will end up. Likely, we will see it in the next-generation Mazda6.
Can you imagine seeing a coupe like the Vision Coupe Concept above with a straight-six engine? (Hint hint, Mazda.)
