Report: Mazda Australia pumps the brakes on any potential MPS revival
Many rumors have been floating about in terms of Mazda, from their possible RX sports car successor, to the revival of their MazdaSpeed or MPS brand here in the US and elsewhere.
But as of recent, it seems Mazda hasn’t been working on these projects, or at least pumped the brakes on them because Mazda needs to better assess how it utilizes its “engineering resources for the best interests of our customers in the market,” said Yuji Nakamine, Mazda’s global senior managing executive officer.
The idea of the revival of the MazdaSpeed, or the MPS brand in Australia, Europe, and Japan, would be synonymous to Nissan’s NISMO or Toyota’s TRD division. But Mazda has greater aspirations than that as Nakamine apparently dreams of a day when Mazda’s own performance brand could compete with the best from BMW M or Mercedes-AMG. This would mean significantly moving up-market, or even establishing a luxury sub-brand, but that’s very far-fetched.
Mazda did try to spin-off a luxury sub-brand back in the 1980s and 1990s to follow in the foot steps of Toyota and Lexus, Nissan and Infiniti, and Honda and Acura. However, the Amati brand as Mazda tried to market it as, hardly materialized.
The company instead is going to focus on crossovers and SUVs, such as the incoming new CX-4 and the anticipated CX-7, which would essentially complete the company’s SUV lineup for now.
– By: Chris Chin
Source: Motoring.com.au