Mazda will not be resurrecting its MPS or MazdaSpeed badges, despite numerous pleas from interested fans and decent sales figures.
Back in the times of the Mazda 3 MPS hatchback and the Mazda 6 MPS sedan, both were quite popular on the market. Despite this, the automaker decided to axe the performance car lineup after producing the second-gen Mazda 3 MPS five-door hatch seven years ago. The model packed a 2.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine rated at 260 PS (256 hp / 191 kW).
Brand loyalists had asked multiple times for the manufacturer to bring back their favorite cars, but Mazda seems determined to ignore these requests. Instead, it plans on conquering the premium vehicle segment with its newly designed RWD platform. The first model based on this platform should emerge in a few years’ time featuring a longitudinally mounted engine.