The year was 2014 when we first heard Mazda dropping clues about homogeneous charge compression ignition. Back then, top powertrain engineer Mitsuo Hitomi suggested the SkyActiv 2 with HCCI engine family would debut in 2020. As per the latest report, however, Mazda will reveal the first proper details on HCCI “at a technology forum in Frankfurt later this month.”
From Motoring: “This month’s HCCI tech forum will be followed by the October Tokyo motor show reveal of a small-car concept that previews next year’s all-new Mazda3.” The Australian publication’s information is aligned with what we already knew about the next-generation Mazda3, which is supposed to go official during 2018 for the 2019 model year in the U.S.
Interestingly (or rather curiously), Motoring claims the Mazda3 won’t get a new platform for its fourth generation. Such a claim fits the Japanese automaker’s way of overhauling architectures from the ground up every two generations. The all-new CX-5 compact crossover utility vehicle serves as a case in point, so don’t expect anything more than a redesigned body shell.
After the 2019 Mazda3, SkyActiv 2 with HCCI will be implemented in the Mazda6 mid-size sedan and wagon. By the end of the decade, Motoring notes, the Japanese automaker will bring forth a successor to the BT-50 mid-size pickup truck, which will share many of its underpinnings with the next Isuzu D-Max. An EV, potentially co-developed with Toyota, is also in the offing. Come 2021, Mazda could debut a rotary-powered plug-in hybrid vehicle. Now that would be an interesting resurgence for the rotary.
Motoring claims the third generation of SkyActiv engines will pop up sometime in 2025, a year that will see Europe’s fleet-average CO2 emissions requirement capped at 65 grams per kilometer. More thought-provoking is the possibility of Mazda bringing back the MPS performance treatment for SkyActiv 2 with HCCI models powered by the 2.5-liter turbo inline-four.
And now, the waiting game begins.
Interestingly (or rather curiously), Motoring claims the Mazda3 won’t get a new platform for its fourth generation. Such a claim fits the Japanese automaker’s way of overhauling architectures from the ground up every two generations. The all-new CX-5 compact crossover utility vehicle serves as a case in point, so don’t expect anything more than a redesigned body shell.
After the 2019 Mazda3, SkyActiv 2 with HCCI will be implemented in the Mazda6 mid-size sedan and wagon. By the end of the decade, Motoring notes, the Japanese automaker will bring forth a successor to the BT-50 mid-size pickup truck, which will share many of its underpinnings with the next Isuzu D-Max. An EV, potentially co-developed with Toyota, is also in the offing. Come 2021, Mazda could debut a rotary-powered plug-in hybrid vehicle. Now that would be an interesting resurgence for the rotary.
Motoring claims the third generation of SkyActiv engines will pop up sometime in 2025, a year that will see Europe’s fleet-average CO2 emissions requirement capped at 65 grams per kilometer. More thought-provoking is the possibility of Mazda bringing back the MPS performance treatment for SkyActiv 2 with HCCI models powered by the 2.5-liter turbo inline-four.
And now, the waiting game begins.