Despite being notoriously
well known for its heavy fuel consumption, Mazda claims it has not given up on
its unique rotary engine despite the car industry's drive towards alternative
fuels and powertrains.
Often criticised in the past for its poor fuel economy, the gasoline
rotary engine remains very much in the minds of the Japanese company's
engineers, according to Jeremy Thomson, managing director of Mazda UK.
He said: "The engineers still talk about it a lot and it
could come back. We don't want to lose the technology."
While other car makers pursue the electric vehicle or hybrid
approach, Mazda continues to engineer environmental improvements to existing
technologies through its SKYACTIV programme, such as lightweight materials,
stop start and regenerative braking.
Thomson said: "These are not options but standard on all
vehicles - it's not a question of putting an ‘eco' badge on the back of the
car. Mazda is in the middle of a product and technology investment the like of
which we have never seen in the past.
"It is a steep change in our fortunes. In recent years we
have not been updating our legacy cars; now we are but with the addition of
SKYACTIV technology which is not an add-on badge engineering exercise but
technology which goes right through the range in all vehicles. The new Mazda6,
for example carries over nothing from the previous model - not a single
bolt."
Thomson also said that "There is currently resurgence in the
brand with the introduction of new and updated models and our dealers are now
making money. The product is now very powerful, based on the KODO design
language that is really resonating with customers. Yes over the past few years
Mazda has seen some significant losses but we are now putting the meat back on
the bones.”
"Currently there is a dramatic difference in sales
performance in the UK, where Mazda is growing, and the rest of Europe. In the
UK we are seeing more confidence among consumers than is currently being
experienced Europe. We are also seeing that buyers are not so much attracted by
overt 0% finance offers but more towards affordable finance and servicing
packages."
Mazda sold 25,000 cars in the UK in 2012 and expects to increase
this to 30,000 this year with a full range of the Mazda6 and better
availability of the CX-5.
Thomson added: "We would like to get back to the 2.5% market
share we had in 2008 and I believe we can do it. The interesting thing is that
three years after the scrappage incentives, how many people will be returning
to the new car market? We exceeded our run rate during scrappage and hopefully
we can hang on to some of those customers.
Mazda
rotary engines in passenger cars have a reputation for being relatively small
and powerful (with a high power/weight ratio) at the expense of poor fuel efficiency.
However,
Mazda is the only company which has put them into volume production although
NSU and its Ro80 epoch-making car launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show and
Citroën (GS Birotor), in the common with COMOTOR company, played their part in
the development of the Wankel engine between 1967 and 1977.
The
story began when Felix Wankel (1902-1988), a German mechanical engineer who
devoted much of his life to rotary machines, established his small laboratory
in 1922 where he developed a small rotary engine. During World War 11, Wankel
developed rotary valves and seals for the German air force engines and navy
torpedoes developed by Daimler-Benz and BMW respectively. After the war he
worked for motorcycle specialist NSU Motorenwerke AG leading to the development
of small rotary engines for motor cycles. His first running prototype ran on 1
February 1957. In July 1961, Mazda signed its first contract with NSU for the development
of a Wankel engine. Four months later, Mazda produced its first prototype
engine. The NSU Ro80 appeared at Frankfurt in 1967. His engine design was first
licensed by Curtiss-Wright in the USA.
In
2007, the 40th anniversary of the Mazda rotary engine, the company
announced Renesis, the next generation rotary engine – the 16X
But
a year ago, in June 2012, Mazda announced that production of the RX-8 would
end. But the company’s president hinted that was not the end of the road.
“Production
of the RX-8 will end, but the rotary engine will lie on as an important part of
Mazda’s spirit,’ said Mazda president Takashi Yamanouchi, in a prepared
statement.
At
its peak, Mazda produced 239,871 rotary engined cars – the year of the first
Middle East oil crisis which saw the beginning of a decline in rotary sales.
During its time under the company’s stewardship, Mazda solved a number of major
design problems, not the least of these involved the mechanical seals between
the tips of the rotor and the wall of the surrounding chamber. Failure of these
seals caused a catastrophic number of failures.
Mazda
eventually solved the rotor problem and puit the rotary back into its line-up.
However, poor fuel economy proved an unrelenting problem engineers failed to
address.
It
will be interesting to see if the ‘new generation’ Mazda rotary finally cracks
an issue which has dogged the original design for over 60 years. ∎
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