Breaking news? Mazda to scrap rotary?

langdang · 07-10-2011 9:38am #1

http://examiner.ie/breakingnews/world/mazda-to-scrap-rotary-engines-523482.html

Mazda to scrap rotary engines
Friday, October 07, 2011 - 09:02 AM

Mazda will stop producing vehicles with its signature rotary engines in June next year because of poor sales and the costs of meeting emissions standards.

The firm said the latest edition of the RX-8, the only model in its line-up with the rotary engine, will go on sale on November 24, targeting sales of 1,000 vehicles, but will end production in June 2012.

Mazda, which introduced its first rotary engine car in 1967, is the only car maker in the world that makes vehicles with rotary engines. They have fewer moving parts and are quieter than comparable piston engines but are more expensive to manufacture and consume more fuel.

Mazda’s decision underlines how consumer tastes are changing to preferring green vehicles over sporty ones.

Read more: http://examiner.ie/breakingnews/world/mazda-to-scrap-rotary-engines-523482.html#ixzz1a5EGedwY

langdang · 07-10-2011 9:43am

Hmm, not so breaking, announced in August apparently. Have I just created a my own version of the weekly "OMG NCT every year for older vehicles!" thread

muckwarrior · 07-10-2011 9:44am

Breaking news? Last year maybe. Mazda announced a long time ago that RX-8 production was ceasing. They've also said on many occasions that they won't stop development of the rotary engine, although there's no date set for an RX-8 replacement.

thirtythirty · 07-10-2011 9:47am

langdang wrote: »

Mazda’s decision underlines how consumer tastes are changing to preferring green vehicles over sporty ones.

Tastes? No.

Forced to with their wallets? Yes.

bijapos · 07-10-2011 10:04am

spottyelephant wrote: »

Tastes? No.

Forced to with their wallets? Yes.

Nobody is forced with their wallet to ignore a rotary engine. They have always consumed too much petrol, Felix Wankel always knew this was a fault and he never managed to solve it, neither did a couple of generations of NSU or Mazda engineers.

The high fuel consumption was partly compensated by low tax, as almost all European countries had a cc based tax system until a few years ago, but with the gradual shift towards emissions based tax systems the car became more undesirable.

The RX-7/RX-8 was always a niche model for people who wanted something different and were prepared to take the high fuel consumption but with oil prices rising long term its is not viable at the moment.

Great engine, hopefully it won't be the last we see of it.

thirtythirty · 07-10-2011 10:12am

bijapos wrote: »

Nobody is forced with their wallet to ignore a rotary engine. They have always consumed too much petrol, Felix Wankel always knew this was a fault and he never managed to solve it, neither did a couple of generations of NSU or Mazda engineers.

Fuel costs increased by 50% during the period I owned mine, and that made a huge difference.

You also won't see any post-'08 RX's about either because of the retarded emissions system

So I stand by my point!

Breaking news? Mazda to scrap rotary?

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