A new Mazda6 with rear-wheel drive and inline-six may be on the way, if customers want it.
Although Mazda has no immediate plans for a new Mazda6 with rear-wheel drive and inline six, that could change if customers want.
The market for that type of car is simply too small at the moment, and customers are increasingly looking for SUVs. Still, the brand doesn't rule out the possibility.
– Personally, I think that an FR (car with the front engine and rear wheel drive, ed.) in sedan form is a dream for everyone.
– Journalists always tell me we should make a car like that. But the market is so small. So if…people start buying these kinds of cars, it will give us the opportunity to build them, says Kohei Shibata, Mazda's program manager for the Large Product Group.
Shibata was not referring specifically to Mazda, but to sedans in general. Toyota has shown with the Corolla and Camry that there is still a demand for sedans. Conversely, the Kia Stinger was not a commercial success.
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Mazda is therefore worried that a 6 with six cylinders and rear-wheel drive will suffer the same fate.
Mazda's plan for the Large Products line initially included only four SUVs: the CX-60, CX-70, CX-80 and CX-90. A sedan was never part of the plan, and the same applies to a large sports coupé, which Mazda Europe's head of development and engineering Joachim Kunz at one point openly told that he dreams about.
However, Mazda is launching a rear-wheel drive sedan in the 6's segment. The EZ-6 is the result of the Changan Mazda collaboration in China and is largely based on the Changan Shenlan SL03. The car is therefore not a genuine Mazda model and is not expected to be launched in Denmark.
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