Mazda And Subaru: "Long Live The ICE!"
If you are a carmaker, you need to have a hybrid and maybe even a plugin in the program, or at least on the schedule – whether your heart is in it or not. Even avowed petrol (and diesel) heads such as BMW and Volkswagen are dabbling with electrified powertrains – officially. Where are the last holdouts? In hybrid-country Japan.
“Mazda and Fuji Heavy are pursuing unique growth strategies as they continue to bank on refinements to the international combustion engine, in stark contrast with larger automakers that are rushing to roll out hybrid and electric cars,” reports The Nikkei [sub] to an aghast readership.
“Internal combustion engines have yet to reach their limit and there is still room for development,” said Seita Kanai, senior Mazda executive in charge of development. Mazda remains committed to improving traditional engines. Why? Because chasing electrons doesn’t make sense, they say.
“We believe electric vehicles that do not use an engine will likely account for just 5 percent of all cars in 2020,” said Kanai.
Fuji Heavy, maker of Subaru, is not working on batteries, but will commercialize a new flat engine designed for its midsize cars by the end of this year.
Should both need hybrid technology, they just buy it from Toyota. “Given their limited R&D budgets, they find it wiser to target the 95 percent of the market that is non-electric,” says The Nikkei.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Subaru, Mazda and other small makers are going to find it increasingly difficult to do power train development at the level required to be a first tier global competitor. Mazda has survived this far thanks to the relationship with Ford, but Ford doesn't seem to be in a hurry to share ongoing power train developments with Mazda at this point. Subaru has gone its own way for a long time, but economics and the relationship with Toyota seem to make it inevitable that at some point, Subarus will likely sport a Toyota based power train and platform. Suzuki has already gotten into bed with VW in order to address this strategic issue. Mitsubishi had been in bed with Daimler, but now is left drifting in the wind. Isuzu ... never mind.
Wait until they fall behind the curve and come crawling back? Mazda is taking its time, but its new Sky engines will be interesting. And Mazda has variable valve timing and direct injection on those small fours NOW. Ford is just starting to introduce direct-injection turbos. Isuzu used to be the "go-to-guy" for diesel... but GM is getting a lot of mileage (literally) from its European connections through GMDAT and Opel with VM Motori... which is better at making modern diesel systems (4JX1, thy legacy stings). Suzuki... I don't know. But they're strong, healthy, and have the Indian partners and possibly money to keep on developing their small powerplants.
How Little some of you REALLY Know...MAZDA have already signed a Licensing Agreement with Toyota late last year, for their Prius II Hybrid Technology...Mazda are NOT using FORD. Mazda are also a 'niche' player and the ONLY car brand to offer 3 different Internal Combustion Engines, Petrol, Diesel and Rotary. Mazda has their NEW SKY Petrol and Diesel engines due for release next year Feb 2011 with 30% improvement in fuel consumption...with DI and Turbo. Mazda has also had Record Car sales Worldwide, the only Country slightly Dragging their feet is the USA...everywhere else up to 33% growth, the CX-7 has had 719% growth this year alone.
We have been buying Mazdas for over 15 years and have been extremely pleased with the vehicles. There was a time when our Toyotas and Hondas seemed a step above in quality and refinement, but as those companies have cut costs, content and corners in their recent products, Mazdas have improved to become equal or better than many of their competitors. Still, in the USA, for some reason they are not big sellers. I had one friend who really wanted a Miata, but didn't even know it was a Mazda. I have never bought a Subaru as I don't need AWD on my cars, but I am not a hybrid fan and am glad to see Mazda is continuing to develop new engine design, regardless of their partners. And as long as they continue to remain a smaller player I know I'll be able to buy their vehicles at invoice prices with rebates or low financing.