Mazda Wants To Make The Vision Coupe, But SUVs Are The Moneymakers

Profits take priority over beauty.

By: Adrian Padeanu

May 2, 2022 at 4:51am ET

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Mazda gave us all wallpaper material back in October 2017 when it unveiled the achingly gorgeous Vision Coupe. If there's one car that deserves the nonsensical "four-door coupe" describer, it's this one. To the surprise of nobody, it didn't take too long until rumors emerged about the swoopy sedan going into production. Fast forward four and a half years later, the car is nowhere to be found. In fact, it seems highly unlikely it will ever happen.

Why? Three letters: S, U, and V. Mazda Europe's engineering boss Joachim Kunz told Autocar that "it's most important to sell SUVs.' He admitted that "it would be very nice… to have the FR [front-engine, rear-driven] concept and six-cylinder engine for a Mazda 6 successor or a large sports coupe." His statement is a quick reminder the large sedan won't take the RWD route to fight the German trifecta: BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz.

Mazda Vision Coupe Concept

With SUVs having priority, we also wouldn't hold our breath for a road-going variant of the older 2015 RX Vision concept. Mazda is bringing back the rotary, but only as a range-extending engine for the MX-30 hybrid crossover. We can at least take comfort from knowing the MX-5 will stick to the formula of a RWD sports car with a gasoline engine for its NE generation.

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Joachim Kunz explained why exciting cars are being put on the proverbial back burner: "This SUV trend is continuing, and even more for Mazda. It's what's selling best." Autocar goes as far as to cast doubt on the 6 sedan's future. The Zoom-Zoom company has been talking about the CX-60 and subsequent CX-70, CX-80, and CX-90 SUVs, with no word about the aging saloon. The third-gen car has been around for a decade, and there are no spy shots of a direct replacement.

With Mazda still being a relatively small automaker, it makes sense to go all-in on SUVs and go from there.