Mazda could reverse plans to build a production version of its Iconic SP sports car concept due to the financial demands of developing a bespoke architecture for a new line of pure-electric cars.
Revealed at the Tokyo motor show in 2023, the Iconic SP is an MX-5-sized two-seat coupé that theoretically uses a 360bhp range-extender EV drivetrain, with a small-capacity rotary engine serving to top up the battery on the move.
Last year, Mazda design chief Masahi Nakayama suggested that the company was committed to putting the Iconic SP into showrooms, saying it was "not just one of those empty show cars".
"It’s been designed with real intent to turn it into a production model in the not so distant future," said Nakayama of the coupé concept, which was designed and engineered with the prospect of homologation in mind.
But now, two years on from its unveiling, Mazda is well under way with the cost-intensive process of developing its own bespoke EV architecture, which will underpin its first car in 2027, and launching a production version of the Iconic SP is not a priority.
Asked for an update on plans to build the rotary-electric sports car, chief technology officer Ryuichi Umeshita said: "Let me answer personally: that is my dream car. I want to make it real.
"Technology-wise, I believe it's possible. The only outstanding issue is financial."
Since Mazda revealed the Iconic SP, it has embarked on a drastic cost-cutting strategy that has slashed its investment in future electrification initiatives by around £2.5 billion – or a third of what it had originally planned – in the run-up to 2030.
The so-called 'lean asset' strategy is designed to help Mazda, which describes itself as "a small player in the industry", stay profitable and competitive as global EV uptake falls well below the industry forecasts that had underpinned previous investment strategies.
The firm remains committed to the concept's rotary engine-based hybrid technology, however, and has evolved it into a 503bhp PHEV set-up for the new Vision X-Coupé, a four-door sports GT that builds on the Iconic SP both visually and technically - and Umeshita said a production version of the smaller car was not entirely off the cards.
"We have re-established the rotary engine development team, and we know that our DNA is in sports cars, so I would never say we gave it up," he said.
Mazda remains committed to using its trademark rotary technology in electrified drivetrains and says the Vision X-Coupé's powertrain – with an ICE engine running on microalgae and equipped with a carbon-capture device at the tailpipe – could even be "carbon-negative".
However, the firm is still working on reducing the inherent increased emissions of a rotary engine and says it needs another "two to three years" of development before it can use such a motor to drive the wheels, rather than as a generator as deployed in the MX-30 crossover.
It is feasible that a breakthrough in this area could pave the way for the Iconic SP to see the light of day, but with Umeshita saying the firm will continue to build the similarly sized MX-5 for "as long as possible", it is unclear where the Iconic SP could sit in the line-up.
