mazda

The Mazda RX-8 is one of the most distinctive sports cars on the road thanks to its unique rotary engine and its aggressive, comic-book styling. Its interior tech leaves plenty to be desired, but for sheer mid-market driving pleasure, the high-revving, four-door coupe is hard to beat. This week Mazda announced that it will be unveiling an update of the RX-8 to next month's Detroit auto show. Until then, you can check out our review of the 2008 model right here.

Among the Mazda model lineup, the 2008 Mazda Tribute HEV looks a little out of place. If it noticed the curvier bodies of its siblings, it might figure out that it was adopted, and its real lineage lies in the Ford Motor Co. Yes, its real siblings, actually identical triplets, are the Ford Escape Hybrid and the Mercury Mariner Hybrid. The boxy Mazda Tribute HEV offers the same kind of advanced hybrid powertrain in an inexpensive and practical package. But it looks nothing like the CX-7, the closest Mazda model in size.

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Mazda goes high-concept with the Taiki. This flivver features a really extreme design, intended to explore Mazda's Zoom-zoom concept. It would be a rear-wheel-drive car with an engine in the front.

While car companies want to show off their environmental credentials, they also realize that performance never goes out of style. We spent quite a bit of time going over these sporty concept cars at the 2007 Tokyo auto show. They range from small, fun performance cars from the likes of Honda and Peugeot, to big sport luxury concepts from Nissan and Suzuki, and all the way up to pure design plays like the Mazda Taiki.

Click here for photos of sport concept cars at the 2007 Tokyo auto show.

This agile mongoose of a car has finally made its debut at the 2007 Tokyo auto show.

As you can see, the Mazda Taiki's aerodynamic design gives the illusion that the back wheels are tucked under wings. This is the fourth car Mazda has released in its Nagare (which means "flow") design series, a vehicle that "visually expresses the flow of air," according to Mazda.

The two-seater sports car concept has a front engine rear-wheel drive layout and Mazda's Renesis rotary engine.

Think you can do better with the next concept design? Mazda welcomes … Read more

With the barrage of hybrid cars announced at Frankfurt and the focus on electric drive trains, hydrogen has taken a break from the alternative-fuels limelight of late. But Mazda is bringing H2 back into focus with the launch of a new hydrogen model at this month's Tokyo auto show. The Premacy Hydrogen RE (essentially a modified Mazda5) makes use of a transversely mounted hydrogen/gasoline rotary engine similar to that in the automaker's RX8 Hydrogen RE.

Like the BMW Hydrogen 7, the Premacy Hydrogen RE burns its hydrogen in its combustion engine; unlike the BMW, it then converts … Read more

Ford Motor and Mazda Motor plan to invest $500 million into a flexible small car manufacturing plant in Thailand, both companies announced Tuesday.

The plant, which is run through Ford and Mazda's joint venture company known as the Auto Alliance Thailand, will resemble the $510 million plant that was recently opened in Nanjing, China. It will include a set-up for producing small-size cars with the first to be available by 2009, according to Ford.

The plant will also have a new paint shop to accommodate Ford's three-wet paint process that Ford says reduces VOC and CO2 emissions, as … Read more

As if YouTube presidential debates weren't enough, Mazda turns to the Internet to find a designer for its future Mazda 3 model. The company posted the Mazda Design Challenge on Facebook (Facebook registration required), inviting would-be automotive designers to submit their ideas for what the 2018 model should look like. For the initial entry, you will have to submit a 150-word description of your vision for the 2018 Mazda 3, plus an optional sketch. Our advice: don't skimp on the sketch--visuals help, especially in a design contest. Mazda judges will choose 10 semifinalists, then throw it back to … Read more

While new car launches were few at the 2007 Frankfurt auto show, some were significant. Mini brought around the Clubman, a stretched version of the Cooper. Volkswagen showed off its new crossover, the Tiguan, and Audi had a significant model update for the A4. Dodge also came to play, putting a crossover called Journey on the floor.

Click here to see our photos.