The Mazda Takeri which is rumoured to be the Mazda6 replacement has been unveiled at the New York Motor Show. For any car manufacturer conquering America is a massive target, for a long time now America has been the largest automotive market. Recently that has come under attack from emerging markets like China, Russia and India, but many still believe the American market is the one to succeed in.
The Takeri concept car has already made appearances at the Tokyo and Geneva Motor Show to gauge consumer and industry reactions. Unlike most of the car manufacturers out there Mazda has decided not to venture into the electric and hybrid car route, instead it has opted to get more out of the traditional combustion engine. Mazda believes that by using lighter materials and clever technology it can lower CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. By not going hybrid or electric Mazda can price its cars lower yet offer better efficiency.
At the New York Motor Show Mazda’s Europe’s design chief, Peter Birtwhistle confirmed that “about 80 per cent” of the Takeri will be carried over onto the next Mazda6 saloon, which is due next year at Mazda Liverpool. The new car uses a lot of technology found in Mazda’s Skyactiv technology umbrella that was developed to meet a target. This target was set by Mazda and it was to improve the fuel economy of its entire range by 30% by 2015.
The question that many have asked is why is Mazda pursuing its work with petrol and diesel engines while other manufacturers are introducing clever electric and hybrid cars. Uwe Kracht, vehicle team manager at Mazda Motor Europe explained, “Firstly, we still believe combustion engines offer great potential. For example, up to 30 per cent of the energy from these engines is still getting lost. The second reason is that we are convinced that in 2020 more than 80 per cent of cars will still use combustion engines.”