Mazda is looking to shift to rear wheel drive
It appears that Mazda engineers are pushing management to look into the idea of a rear-wheel-drive model range so as to help differentiate their units from mainstream manufacturers and at the same time push the brand upmarket.
US motoring site Edmunds reports that this push is being led by many Mazda engineers in middle- and senior-ranking positions, who think that the brand would benefit from a rear-wheel-drive focused range.
The idea would be for Mazda to start producing more driver-focused cars which focus on being fun to drive. This way the Japanese manufacturer could move away from mainstream front-wheel-drive models such as the Mazda3 and Mazda6, and instead follow the likes of the MX-5 and RX series.
At the current time, there is no mainstream Japanese manufacturer that has a rear-drive-biased range, so the strategy would help Mazda stand out. Lexus and Infiniti manufacture several rear-wheel-drive models lines but they’re not in direct competition with Mazda.
The interesting thing is that despite this in-house pressure, the Mazda executives are said to be opposed to the idea, because the strategy would imply a complete overhaul of Mazda’s architecture and model range.
The executives might also be slow to change the focus of the company so swiftly because the Mazda range is already critically acclaimed even with predominantly front-wheel drive models, the Mazda3 and CX-5 proving to be quite successful in several markets.
This report comes after Mazda has signed a partnership with Alfa Romeo to develop the next-generation MX5, which will be a rear-wheel drive. There seems to be a bit of a trend in this respect with Alfa Romeo looking into a rear-wheel drive focused range as well to help it compete with its German competitors. This doesn’t mean that the two companies will be undertaking this project together, but just as a bit of background information to understand where this push is coming from.
