Consider the facts. The Civic Type-R, both in Japanese domestic market FD2 and European variants is now dead with no replacement in sight. So is the Integra Type-R. The current Subaru Impreza WRX has gone mainstream, not too different from a Corolla, barely a shadow of the original GC8 model that wanabe rally drivers used to go Banzai!! in them. The next Lancer Evolution will be an eco-greenie car. At this point, Current BMWs are not as viscerally stimulating as the cult classic E30. Joy that makes you drive to the golf course, is not the same joy that makes you want to take the little Miata around the further, twistier back roads. Lotus has decided to go upmarket to fight the Germans, so no more affordable Elises.
For the enthusiast driver, apart from holding on or getting your hands on the last generation of these driver's cars while you fight away rust and mechanical wear, short of selling your kidney to get a proper performance Porsche, what option do enthusists have in the near term?
Recently Mazda have been shouting its brand louder than ever. Late last year, the bleeding Ford reduced its stake in Mazda from 33% to 11.8% and eventually to just 3.5%. Publicly, Mazda says pursuing greater synergies with Ford is one their key pillars of growth, but we can be safely infer that Mazda will have to rely more on its own resources for future product development. And that can only come from selling more cars. And that can only be achieved by shouting themselves louder, in ways that are more different than the big players in the industry.
Mazda knows that it is small and to run with the big boys it has to take greater risk and be different. It must be pleasing to hear quotes like "If It's Not Worth Driving, It's Not Worth Building" from Mazda, emphasizing the pursuit of driving pleasure is a must in all Mazda models, even their future pick-up trucks. Building less, building better for the discerning few sums it up nicely.
Personally, I find a lot of similarities between Mazda and Porsche, no not in their cars, but their motivating spirit. For one, both are extremely stubborn. Seriously how hard must your head be to ignore everyone else's failure and good advice and continue perfecting cars with the engine in the wrong place for 40 over years? But that's not all. Porsche not only refused to move the engine to the front, but also insists that 911's basic design does not need changing, for 40 over years! So for 40 over years the 911 continued to carry on with the same basic silhouette.
The rotary engine is Mazda's version of Porsche's stubbornness. Every single manufacturer that has dabbled with rotary engines have given up. German car maker NSU was even bankrupted by it. Mercedes experimented with rotary engines in the C111 Concept and concluded that it was a stupid idea. NSU was Mazda's rotary engine partner, even when NSU folded, Mazda soldiered on alone. To answer criticisms that rotary engines are unreliable, Mazda built the 787B Le Mans and raced the rotary engine for 24-hours non-stop and win it outrightly, just to shut everyone else up. Today, Mazda remains the only Japanese manufacturer to ever win the highly coveted Le Mans title. The supposedly more reliable conventional engines Toyota and Nissan too have tried, but failed, ironically. Today, the most stubborn sports car maker (Porsche) is one of the most profitable car companies and the only independent car company (merger with VW is still under scrutiny), while Mazda is one of the fastest growing car brands. I guess tenacity will be rewarded. Hence the title of the video below - The "Challengers"
Our lives are complicated enough. And our cars are a reflection of our lives, and they certainly aren't getting simpler. Thankfully, Mazda, in their typical head strong attitude, snubbed the horsepower game favoured by everyone else, and pursued the path of lightness. Even Mazda's cheapest Mazda 2 hatchback is lighter than the car it replaces, one of the few cars in the world that is actually ligther than its predecessor. The Miata MX-5 is another good example that horsepower and speed does not equal joy. In the same way as money and fame never equals joy. The best things in life are simple - company of friends, a good beer, clear blue seas, and of course, sex. I mean how complicated can it be and how many things are better? You don't really need electromagnetic adjustable dampers or electric powered everything to enjoy driving. Harmony between driver and car is what is important, just as harmony in relationships between humans is the key to happiness, it's not about what you own or how others see you.
Harmony between machine and driver is something that Mazda strives very hard to achieve not just in sports cars like Miata MX-5, but also in all its cars. Even the non-performance oriented family car like the Mazda 5 MPV, harmony is with all its users, including children and the elderly. Amazing that so much attention is paid to the impression gained from opening a humble sliding door.
So the question remains, why did Honda abandoned its hallowed Type-R brand? Same reason why did Mitsubishi closed down RalliAart and wants to stop the Lancer Evolution in its current format, and the reason Subaru toned down the Impreza and Forrester's racer boy image. And why current BMW M models are more heavyweight wrestlers rather than nimble flying swordsmen. The short summary is that hero cars / halo cars exist to shout the company's flagship technology and purpose. They are built based on the same standard car that you can afford. It's existence is supposed to hopefully shed some gold dust down to the regular run of the mill models, to give the range some street creed.
Performance and driving dynamics have been the USP of these brands for many years. But these companies are now finding that it is increasingly difficult to harmonize this with their future growth path. Governments are coming down hard on vehicular emission and the buyers are increasingly CO2 conscious. Even Ferrari and Porsche are forced to reinvent themselves to project a more eco-friendly PR face.
Honda has identified its IMA hybrid technology to drive its growth for the next decade. Mitsubishi is throwing its resources to be the No.1 in electric vehicle technology. A hero / halo car must always be in line with the company's flagship technology. Thus the CR-Z and Insight are now Honda's technology flag bearer while Mitsubishi is keen to remind the public that its i-MiEV is the world's first mass produced electric car. A Type-R or Evolution or WRX won't fit well in such operating conditions. BMW's customers have grown older (and fatter), its customers demand more and more toys. They are not the sort of people who drive for fun anymore, during their younger days. They now drive to make themselves feel important, to elevate themselves, to shoo people out of their way. It's a socialite's car. Hence a stripped down M car in the spirit of the original E30 is not a viable business proposition today, although the M135i is in the plans with the intention to bring down the average age of BMW owners, but don't expect this to be cheap.
The bigger you are, the more difficult it is for you to be different and take the less trodden path. It is inevitable that companies will want to grow bigger, and cars will have to get better with every successive generation (more toys, more space, more everything). In the pursuit of earning more, they become just like everyone else, forced to become normal, mainstream, pleasing to the masses.
Mazda on the other hand, is still small and young enough to do these unconventional things. So we want to make a call to all enthusiasts out there, to give your attention and support to the Mazda brand, the little underdog needs all the support it can get. And who doesn't like seeing an underdog throwing up surprises in a game?
By the way, quality and reliability is something traditionally associated with Toyota. But a little known fact is that independent research data puts Mazda just as reliable, if not more reliable than Toyotas. Probably the video below explains why. Takumi is something you read about in Lexus press release materials. Not something for a small car maker like Mazda. Of course, everything that is explained by Mazda's Takumi is more or less done by all the big players, but oddly, this is one PR hype that I don't mind being convinced.
For more information, visit mazda.com.my or if you are from another country, visit the Mazda's global site for more information on your local Mazda distributor.
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1 comments:
Love your blog very much. keep up the good work~! ;-)
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