New Mazda slogan: "Not Electric, Not Hybrid, Not A Drag To Drive."

[wtmusic]

"We noted Mazda's somewhat unusual message to New York Auto Show attendees yesterday, the one that said: Not Electric. Not Hybrid. Not A Drag To Drive and thought we should try to figure out why Mazda is going after today's electric and hybrids vehicles with this kind of attack message. The short version: electric and hybrid vehicles won't be fun to drive until Mazda makes one.

That's what Robert Davis, Mazda's senior vice president of quality, research and development, told AutoblogGreen. He said that Mazda is working on these sorts of vehicles, running a Demio (Mazda2) electric test program and working with Toyota on hybrid technology, but, "we would first use our own most efficient internal combustion engines before we'd go to that technology." Those engines, are, of course, the Skyactiv ones. Davis said:

Our strategy has been the same strategy since 2008, which is to advance the base technology first and to allow us to apply that base technology across all of our models. Our base internal combustion engine technology is driven through Skyactiv, and this is the launch in North America. We felt it was more important to have that technology fully developed before we add electrical devices to then improve it as we go forward. We're trying to apply it to as many people as we can, so we have a brand-based policy instead of a model-based policy."

http://green.autoblog.com/2011/04/21/new-york-2011-mazda-doubles-down-against-hybrids-electric-cars/

Damn, that's a lot of parts to break...

[Initech]

1. I'd love to see their Shinari concept become a hybrid-electric.

http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/shinari.action

:wow:

[wtmusic]

2. That car looks really pissed off at something. nt

[DCKit]

3. I could get used to that.

[DCKit]

4. From Mazda: Available in Japan first half of 2011, 30 Km/liter.

http://www.mazda.com/publicity/release/2010/201010/101020a.html

Highlights of the SKYACTIV technologies:

* SKYACTIV-G: a next-generation highly-efficient direct-injection gasoline engine with the world's highest compression ratio of 14.0:1
* SKYACTIV-D: a next-generation clean diesel engine with the world's lowest compression ratio of 14.0:1
* SKYACTIV-Drive: a next-generation highly-efficient automatic transmission
* A next-generation manual transmission with a light shift feel, compact size and significantly reduced weight
* A next-generation lightweight, highly-rigid body with outstanding crash safety performance
* A next-generation high-performance lightweight chassis that balances precise handling with a comfortable ride