Mazda says it has no immediate plans to revive the MPS badge once reserved for its performance vehicles, explaining that it instead seeks to focus on ensuring “the customer appreciates every day driving rather than peaky performance”.
Masahiro Moro, president and CEO of Mazda North America, confirmed to CarAdvice that the Japanese brand wasn’t working reviving its high-performance sub-brand.
“Since the Mazda brand and has matured and grown, where we are heading – if you have a look at the Vision Coupé – we need more sophisticated technology on the powertrain to meet the customers demands in the future,” Moro told the Australian publication.
“In the US, I’m not going to seek for a Mazdaspeed [MPS] type of execution. At this point, I don’t think it’s a priority. Those executions are done by established premium brands — we are not following them,” he explained.
“We are going a different way, so we will focus on design, craftsmanship and a human centric driving performance so the customer appreciates every day driving rather than peaky performance,” Moro added.
Meanwhile, Mazda Australia managing director Vinesh Bhindi told Drive that despite the updated Mazda6 gaining a 2,5-litre turbocharged engine, it is “not an MPS”.
“Mazda6 customers have always said it would be nice to have a bit more performance. By no stretch is it a performance vehicle, but it is more performance than before. I wouldn’t say that’s a high performance car – it’s not an MPS,” Bhindi said, according to Drive.
He went on to confirm that “there is no MPS in the planning”, but added that “down the track in the future is anybody’s guess”…
