Mazda has renewed its mid-term agenda by accelerating plans to embrace electrification in the coming years in light of increasingly stringent emission regulations. While this sounds like an announcement every other automaker has come close to making or will make, something else has caught our attention. Although not mentioned in the press release, the accompanying video shows a mysterious sports coupe. What’s that? A “Vision Study Model” for now.
Posted on Mazda’s official Japan channel, the 36-minute video features President and CEO Akira Marumoto talking about the steps the automaker needs to take to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. The last five minutes of the video reflect Mazda’s “vision for the future,” and first things first. what you’ll see is the MX-5 ND. The previous generation Miata also appeared before the white coupe was shown.
While we’re tempted to say this is an early look at the fifth-generation MX-5, we’re probably being too hasty. After all, the gorgeous Vision Coupe Concept from 2017 never materialized into a production car. But what if it’s the next Miata? The concept describes a coupe with a fixed metal roof, which has happened before as the NB received a true coupe derivative in Japan where only 179 units were sold.
Logic tells us that those butterfly doors were reserved for the concept as later production cars would have regular settings. With zero details shared by Mazda, all we can do is speculate on what this concept represents. It did have the proportions of a rear-wheel drive car judging by the short rear and long bonnet to accommodate the longitudinally mounted engine.
The Japanese automaker has promised to keep the RWD+ICE formula alive for its next-generation Miata. However, some forms of electrification are expected to meet the stricter emission regulations we mentioned earlier. Protruding fenders are a hallmark of the MX-5 while the rounded taillights that split in half make us think of the current ND.
Overall, the concept gives us the impression it looks small enough to be a Miata rather than something more high-end to revive the RX. The rotary engine officially returns in 2023, but only serves as a range extension rather than for sports car applications. Keep in mind that an interesting test run of the MX-5 was spotted a few months ago, so a new sports car is definitely on its way.
