Most cars can come and go. We might say we love our Kia Sportage or our Lincoln Navigator. But we understand that there’s a difference between a well-executed car and an essential car. That the world wouldn’t lose something if Kia changed the name of its compact SUV as part of a redesign. Few would mourn if Lincoln went back to sedans.
But there must always be a Miata. The Mazda MX-5 Miata has entered into that rare territory of essential cars, like the Chevrolet Corvette or the Land Rover Range Rover, that mean something and must be protected. Ford dropped all cars from its lineup except the Mustang because the rules are different for the icons.
And among the icons, there is only one little 2-seat roadster with a lively chassis and reliability you can depend on for a lifetime.
That’s why these words were so welcome.
“We Will Have This Car Forever”
“It’s our brand icon, and it is always treated very specially. At the moment, it looks like we will have this car forever, with this size and concept and combustion engine. Of course, someday, we will have to electrify it, but we want to keep this pure concept.”
Mazda European head of product development and engineering Joachim Kunz brought relief to millions of dedicated Miata fans and devotees of affordable weekend racing this week, telling the U.K.’s Autocar that Mazda understands its responsibilities.
Kunz provided a bit of an update on the next MX-5, telling Autocar that “having one generation for ten years is not a problem for us.” That suggests that the current Miata, which insiders know as the ND, could last as long as three more model years. It debuted for the 2015 round.
Electric Eventually, But Probably Not Soon
We expect to see it adopt Mazda’s unique SkyActiv-X technology, which could give it better fuel economy while keeping it an internal combustion (ICE) car. A mild-hybrid system could also appear, though that is less certain. It would add weight, and the Miata gets its delightful handling from its light weight.
We wouldn’t be surprised to see it stay a small, gasoline-powered roadster until lighter EV batteries are available.
