Mazda set to debut new rear-drive Mazda6 next year

Thursday, 7 October 2021

Mazda is reportedly set to debut its all-new rear-drive Mazda6 sedan in the first half of 2022.

The news comes from Spyder7, which said the new 6 will take styling inspiration from the Vision Coupe concept of 2017. It was a very pretty long, sleek two-door with “more emphasis on styling heritage, an absence of fussy lines and painstaking attention to detail when it comes to the way light reflects on the car.”

It will bring a new grille design that will apparently become the future styling trend for Mazda, along with an H-shaped rear diffuser. Unlike the concept, the production vehicle will have seating for five.

The next-generation of Mazda6 will take design inspiration from the gorgeous Vision Coupe concept of 2017.

As for mechanical details, the upcoming Mazda6 will apparently include a 3.0-litre straight-six petrol engine, using SkyActiv-X compression ignition technology as well as a 48-volt mild hybrid system. A similar six-cylinder diesel powertrain will also be available, while other four-cylinder versions will probably make an appearance as well.

**READ MORE:

The production version will have seating for five, unlike the concept.

* Mazda nearing release of rear-wheel drive inline-six SUV

* Is Mazda looking to become the new BMW?

The current Mazda6 has been around since 2012, albeit with a facelift in 2018.

* Next-gen Mazda6 to change the playbook

Power figures are still scarce, but it seems the Japanese six will make anywhere between 210kW/600Nm and 285kW/500Nm. Nothing is officially confirmed, however.

There’s a very good chance Mazda will give the 6 more substantial electrification as well, considering the brand has announced it will introduce no fewer than five plug-in hybrid vehicles between 2022 and 2025, along with five regular hybrids and three pure-EVs.

These will use Mazda’s new ‘SkyActiv Multi-Solution Scalable Architecture’ and focus mainly on Japan, Europe, the US, China and ASEAN markets.

The rear-drive Mazda6 will be matched by an SUV on the same RWD architecture, which could be the first to market.

In a statement from late September relating to the reveal of the updated, front-wheel-drive Mazda CX-5, Mazda Australia’s managing director, Vinesh Bhindi, said to Drive.com.au: 'We anticipate the arrival of new generation, large platform SUVs arriving in 2022.”

The new RWD SUV could take the CX-50 name, leaving the CX-5 to carry on the traditional FWD layout. Some rumours pegged the CX-50 as a coupe-SUV version of the 5, but that doesn’t really fit in with how the CX-30 indirectly replaces the CX-3.

That said, the CX-5 has just been given an update whereas the CX-3 hasn’t seen much love recently. Mazda New Zealand told Stuff last month that we can expect the CX-5 refresh sometime next year. It wouldn’t comment on the rear-drive, straight-six replacement, however.