New rear-wheel-drive Mazda 6 not coming, says brand executive

There will not be a new Mazda 6 mid-size car – nor a six-cylinder luxury coupe spin-off – based on Mazda's rear-wheel-drive Large Architecture, a new report indicates.

Reports out of Japan over the last two years have claimed a new Mazda 6 sedan is in the works, with rear-drive underpinnings, inline-six power, and styling inspired by 2017's Vision Coupe concept – but Mazda Europe development and engineering boss Joachim Kunz has confirmed to Autocar (16 March) it won't come to fruition.

"It would be very nice… to have the FR [front-engine, rear-driven] concept and six-cylinder engine for a Mazda 6 successor or a large sports coupé. We would like to have it, but at this point in time, it's most important to sell SUVs," the executive told the British magazine.

"This SUV trend is continuing, and even more for Mazda. It's what's selling best."

The executive's comments to Autocar are extensions of those made by Mazda Australia marketing director Alastair Doak to Drive late last month, who indicated declining sedan sales means Mazda's focus will lie in its four new SUVs based on the Large Architecture.

"I guess, if you look around the world … [the] traditional car/sedan market has been shrinking for many years, not just in Australia, so I guess our priority globally will be the [rear-wheel-drive] Large Architecture and the four SUVs that we’ve already mentioned," Doak said.

Of those four SUVs, only one has been locked in for Australia, the mid-size, five-seat CX-60. Under consideration are the other three models: the Europe-oriented, seven-seat CX-80, and two 'widebody' SUVs for North America, the two-row CX-70 and three-row CX-90.

Underpinning all four is Mazda's new Large Architecture, which switches to longitudinally-mounted engines (cylinders in line from front to rear) and a rear-wheel drive framework – enabling the fitment of inline-six petrol or diesel engines, or a new plug-in hybrid system developing 241kW.

With no successor on the horizon – at least on the Large Architecture – the current Mazda 6 will be forced to soldier on for the years to come, with 2022 marking its 10th year on sale – and one of the oldest new cars on sale in Australia.

Mazda has continually updated its mid-size sedan and wagon duo since its launch a decade ago – these updates include safety and tech upgrades in 2016, a major facelift in 2018 (adding a new 2.5-litre turbo-petrol engine), further spec upgrades in 2019, and a new GT SP variant in 2021.

Further updates are planned to keep the car fresh, with Doak telling Drive: "Mazda 6 will continue as is for a while. There’s some updates in the pipeline for it down the track. It’s still the second-best seller in that [medium passenger car under $60,000] segment."

In addition to the rumoured Mazda 6 successor, the Autocar report also rules out unsubstantiated rumours in 2020 a new RX-9 coupe is in the works, powered by a version of Mazda's new turbocharged inline-six engine.