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Mazda's Detroit Concept Splits RX-8, Miata
Two's company and three is very exciting news from Mazda. The Japanese firm has revealed it will add to its sportscar range with the addition of a third model to sit alongside the RX-8 and MX-5.
The car will be unveiled at January's Detroit Motor Show, and though it will be styled and badged as a concept, insiders say the two-seater hints very strongly at a production model that will go on sale around 2008. We've been told it's a mini RX-8 with a hint of MX-3, but crucially won't use the former car's rotary engine.
It will be designed and developed by Mazda North America, based in<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1LACE w:st="on"><ST1:CITY w:st="on">Irvine</ST1:CITY>, <ST1:STATE w:st="on">Calif.</ST1:STATE></ST1LACE> The center's director of design, Franz von Holzhausen, said, "It's an exciting continuation of the Mazda DNA. We will offer a product that's relevant to what people want, and enters us into an arena that we have not been in before." The designer emphasized that the car would be aimed at North American buyers. However, he admitted it has been designed so that it is "conceptually possible" for it to made right-hand-drive for fans in countries such as <ST1:COUNTRY-REGION w:st="on">Britain</ST1:COUNTRY-REGION> and <ST1:COUNTRY-REGION w:st="on"><ST1LACE w:st="on">Japan</ST1LACE></ST1:COUNTRY-REGION>. -Richard Yarrow
Two's company and three is very exciting news from Mazda. The Japanese firm has revealed it will add to its sportscar range with the addition of a third model to sit alongside the RX-8 and MX-5.
The car will be unveiled at January's Detroit Motor Show, and though it will be styled and badged as a concept, insiders say the two-seater hints very strongly at a production model that will go on sale around 2008. We've been told it's a mini RX-8 with a hint of MX-3, but crucially won't use the former car's rotary engine.
It will be designed and developed by Mazda North America, based in<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 /><ST1LACE w:st="on"><ST1:CITY w:st="on">Irvine</ST1:CITY>, <ST1:STATE w:st="on">Calif.</ST1:STATE></ST1LACE> The center's director of design, Franz von Holzhausen, said, "It's an exciting continuation of the Mazda DNA. We will offer a product that's relevant to what people want, and enters us into an arena that we have not been in before." The designer emphasized that the car would be aimed at North American buyers. However, he admitted it has been designed so that it is "conceptually possible" for it to made right-hand-drive for fans in countries such as <ST1:COUNTRY-REGION w:st="on">Britain</ST1:COUNTRY-REGION> and <ST1:COUNTRY-REGION w:st="on"><ST1LACE w:st="on">Japan</ST1LACE></ST1:COUNTRY-REGION>. -Richard Yarrow