Struggling Mazda Looking for News Partners

By Nat Shirley
Thursday, Feb 9th, 2012 @ 10:17 am
Facing what will likely be its fourth straight year of financial losses, Mazda is seeking partners to share development and manufacturing costs as the company tries to return to profitability.

Mazda CEO Takashi Yamanouchi says the company is “actively” seeking partners and is “considering every option” in an attempt to raise more capital to stave off a possible downgrade to its credit rating, Automotive News reports. Mazda has forecast a net loss of $1.29 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, which would represent the automaker’s worst financial showing in 11 years.
Mazda’s struggles are partially attributable to the continued strength of the yen – Mazda exports a greater percentage of its vehicles from Japan than any other automaker, meaning more of its sales result in slim profit margins because of the unfriendly home currency. Another issue lies with several weak-selling products – in America, Madza’s entrants in the all-import midsize sedan and small crossover segments, the Mazda6 and Tribute/CX-7, have largely been sales disappointments.
Still, there is plenty of potential for the Zoom-Zoom automaker to return to financial health. The company is building a plant in Mexico to counter the strength of the yen, and its sales fortunes could soon improve with the launch of the new CX-5 crossover and as its fuel-efficient SkyActiv technology continues to spread throughout the model range.
A partner to help defray costs would also be an asset – Mazda has been going it alone since former partner Ford sold its shares in the Japanese automaker over the past few years.

Source;

http://www.leftlanenews.com/struggling-mazda-looking-for-partners.html

Next Generation Mazda Miata/MX-5

Mazda is hard at work on a new MX-5 that’s set to capture the spirit of the original eighties model, thanks to a huge reduction in weight and a pure and simple driving experience.

Key to the next-generation MX-5 is the firm’s SKYACTIV technologies that focus on reducing weight and improving efficiency. While the current car weighs around 1,050kg, Mazda engineers are reportedly on track for a kerbweight of under 900kg.

Mazda has said that it hopes the body alone will account for a 10 per cent weight loss, despite the fact it is about 30 per cent stiffer than the current car, thanks to the use of more high-strength steel.

The chassis itself will also be 10 per cent lighter than the current car's, with redesigned suspension and steering hoping to offer a lightness and agility at low speeds but a more secure feeling at high speeds.

With a new lighter car will come a range of smaller capacity engines. Currently the MX-5 is powered by 1.8-litre and 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engines producing up to 170bhp. The new car is expected to use a turbocharged 1.3-litre SKYACTIV engine, although a naturally-aspirated 1.5-litre unit will also be offered.

The MX-5’s new look is inspired by the Takeri concept that debuted at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. The new design language incorporates a larger shield grille and defined creases in the bodywork.

Expect the next-generation Mazda MX-5 to be unveiled towards the end of 2013, with sales starting the following year.

Source;
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/277357/new_mazda_mx5.html

R.I.P. Mazda RX-8 and Chrysler/Dodge Dakota Truck

Well, I guess for Mazda this paves the way for a new RX-7....

Mazda Motor Corp. has canceled production of its RX-8 rotary engine sports car, citing falling sales and stringent global emissions standards.

Production in Hiroshima, Japan, ended in early July and global sales of the car will conclude later this year.

The RX-8 and the three generations of the RX-7 that preceded it have long been the foundation the brand's fun-to-drive aura. The car's high-revving 1.3-liter, twin-rotor rotary engine produces 232 hp at 8,500 rpm--a big punch in a relatively small package.

But Mazda sold just 1,134 RX-8s last year, a 49 percent decline from 2009. Sales through July this year were down another 21 percent.

The RX-8, which has a base price of $27,590, including shipping, peaked at 23,690 sales in 2004. But the first-generation RX-7 surpassed 50,000 units throughout the early 1980s.

Mazda's U.S. dealers had 300 units in stock as of Aug. 1 for a 118-day supply, according to the Automotive News Data Center.

Mazda pulled the RX-8 from the European market last year after the car failed to meet local emissions standards. Without volume from Europe, Mazda couldn't justify selling the RX-8, a Mazda source said.

Exporting vehicles from Japan also has become more difficult. The yen's rise vs. the dollar was a major reason why Mazda's North American operating losses from April through June grew nearly threefold to ¥7.9 billion, or about $97.6 million, from the same quarter last year.

This isn't the first time that Mazda has dropped its rotary engine sports car from the U.S. lineup. The RX-7 was pulled after the 1995 model year. A rotary-powered car didn't return to American showrooms until the 2003 introduction of the RX-8.

And the RX-8's demise may not be the end of the rotary engine at Mazda. A source says engineers in Hiroshima are still working on the next generation, 1.6-liter rotary engine, code-named 16X, that is said to have lower emissions, better fuel economy and more power.

When unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, the 16X had an enlarged elliptical shape for the combustion chamber and an enlarged eccentric center stroke in the rotor. Mazda also planned direct-injection fuel delivery in a rotary engine for the first time.

But the 16X project has been on the back burner since the financial crisis. The company chose to focus its r&d resources on its fuel-saving SkyActiv technologies that debut later this year.

Still, Jim O'Sullivan, CEO of Mazda North American Operations, said "the rotary is alive and well within Mazda." While declining to comment on the progress of the 16X, O'Sullivan said: "We are studying what's the best way to come back to the market with the rotary."

Source;

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110822/CARNEWS/110829973#ixzz1VmqVilzV

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It’s the end of the line for production of the Ram Dakota, The Detroit News is reporting. The neglected and forgotten Dakota has long been an afterthought to the Ram 1500, the bread and butter of the Ram line.

The Warren Truck Plant where the Dakota is built also builds the Ram 1500. So far 39 temporary workers have been let go due to the end of Dakota production. The UAW expects the number could reach 150 or more.

As we reported last year, Chrysler has been mulling over the Dakotas replacement for some time now. The consensus seems to be that the slow-selling Dakota will eventually be replaced by a unibody compact pickup truck, aimed more at customers who buy trucks for their looks, not their utility. Think Dodge M-80 concept, or Rampage concept, as the Dakota’s replacement will be more show than go when it debuts within the next few years.

No decision has yet been made about where to build the Dakota’s replacement.

Source;

http://rumors.automobilemag.com/chrysler-ends-dakota-pickup-production-70167.html