At last year’s Tokyo Motor Show, Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai made a bold statement when he said his company would launch five new models by March 2016. Those include the Mazda2, MX-5, CX-3, CX-9, and the successor to the JDM Premacy minivan.

With the just-launched Mazda2, Mazda has finally put in place its four signature models (Mazda3, Mazda6, CX-5) built around the company’s new Skyactiv technologies. And by year’s end we (the motoring media) will get to see how the all-new MX-5 handles at around the same time as the new CX-3 is making its world premiere at the Los Angeles Motor Show. The CX-3 will appear in showrooms in Japan and the U.S. by spring while the remaining two models will be revealed by early 2016. According to a source close to Mazda, the five new models will complete Mazda’s short-term lineup. “What gets added to the lineup in addition to those cars is the interesting bit,” says our insider. “The company plans to focus heavily on development of niche products, or in other words, special editions.”

By early 2016, we can expect to see a Mazda6 diesel hybrid landing in showrooms, and in the second half of that year, Mazda is planning a Mazda6 coupe. What you see here is an artist’s impression of the coupe, and we think it takes Mazda’s stylish Kodo design to the next level. The current Mazda6 sedan already features a coupe-like profile, but a two-door version might take it to even swoopier extremes. To get an even better idea, look at the Mazda Shinari concept, the design that spawned the '6, above.

Another important niche model is also planned for 2016: the much-anticipated Mazdaspeed3. This hot hatch will employ a 2.5-liter Skyactiv G turbocharged gasoline engine pumping out more than 300 hp and incorporating a new lightweight all-wheel drive system. To add even more spice to the company’s lineup, we can also expect to see Mazdaspeed versions of the Mazda2 and Mazda6.

In order to cater to its market needs in developing countries, especially in Asia, Mazda plans to launch an all-new Mazda1. Slated to be produced in the company’s Thailand and Mexican plants, the Mazda1 will sit on a revised version of the Mazda2’s platform. And of course who can forget our recent story on the next-generation rotary-powered RX-9, which is slated for a 2017 debut in concept form and should arrive in showrooms by 2020? This coupe is strongly rumoured to employ a two-stage turbocharger setup that should see it generate over 450 hp.

But Mazda is not stopping there. The company also plans to apply its rotary technology in the form of a rotary range-extender as seen in a recent Mazda2 mule, while commercializing HCCI technology, or homogeneous charge compression ignition, which achieves gasoline engine-like emissions with diesel engine-like efficiency. Mazda is focusing on HCCI engines as the technology realizes extremely low levels of Nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx) without a catalytic converter. And here we were thinking that Mazda was not interested in electric cars. Our insider also tells us that Mazda is working toward the launch of its own EV by 2018. Our insider said it best: “From rotaries to range extenders, diesel hybrids to EVs, turbocharged sports models to coupes, the company is branching out in ways you can’t imagine!”

HIROSHIMA, Japan -- Masamichi Kogai, Mazda Motor Corp.'s cost-conscious CEO, says he has no plans to revive the discontinued RX sports car series. Instead, he wants to plow limited resources into improving the Skyactiv technologies that set the brand's bread-and-butter vehicles apart from the competition.

The move underscores the fragile state of Mazda's recovery and the challenge the CEO faces in keeping products competitive with the first round of Skyactiv redesigns already halfway over.

Mazda's seven-vehicle lineup is almost stretched to its max, Kogai said. It's time to focus on a new generation of improvements.

"It's difficult for us at present to further expand our lineup," Kogai told Automotive News at the company's headquarters here. "The company is still in the process of improving its financial structure. We want to focus our limited resources on the Skyactiv products that we have today."

Every nameplate except the CX-9 crossover and Mazda5 minivan has received a Skyactiv makeover. Skyactiv is the name Mazda gave to a variety of technologies behind a more efficient powertrain, lightweight body and sportier chassis.

The Skyactiv Mazda2 has yet to reach the U.S. but is on sale in Japan. The overhauled MX-5 Miata roadster was unveiled this year with a 2015 U.S. launch date. And a new CX-3 subcompact crossover based on the Mazda2 will debut this month at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The big question for Kogai: What next? The small, export-reliant company is under pressure to meet increasingly stringent emissions standards around the world. But it lacks the deep r&d coffers of Japanese rivals Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

When Kogai, 60, took office in June 2013, he inherited a company that had just recorded its first annual profit in five years.

In many ways, today's Mazda looks stronger than ever. It is booking record profits, U.S. sales are outpacing the industry's and it has rebalanced its global production footprint with a new plant in Mexico. Incentives are down; transaction prices are up.

But Kogai's challenge is keeping that momentum with a tight lineup and preparing future products on a shoestring budget.

"Mazda is at a turning point," said Takaki Nakanishi, an auto analyst with Jefferies Japan in Tokyo. "Consistent success will be determined by the next generation of products."

Kogai says his top immediate priority is achieving quality sales, not just higher volumes. Discipline will be key: He favors a more focused core lineup over flashy cars such as the RX-8, and lower incentives. So far, his strategy has been working.

Take the redesigned Mazda3 compact. U.S. sales fell 2 percent to 87,505 units through October. But Mazda says its share of retail, nonfleet sales in the compact segment is actually up.

Average incentives on the Mazda3 fell by half to $1,203 in the first nine months from the year-earlier period, according to TrueCar Inc. By contrast, average incentives for the entire compact segment rose 24 percent to $2,048.

'Holding down incentives'

Mazda's incentives as a brand have been in reverse since 2011, said Edmunds.com analyst Jonathan Mandanici. And average transaction prices are up 10 percent so far in 2014 vs. 2012.

"We're holding down incentives, without pursuing volume," Kogai said. "The challenge for us now is how we can sustain this."

Kogai has scaled back his forecast that Mazda's U.S. sales could hit a record approaching 400,000 vehicles in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2016. Now he says he doesn't consider that figure "an absolute target," though he'd like to get there "eventually."

Maintaining discipline also means not being tempted into ego entries, such as a revived RX sports car, he said.

Mazda retired the RX-8 in 2012 amid slumping sales.

Despite being a signature car for the Mazda, equipped with the brand's famed rotary engine, RX is dead for now, Kogai said.

"We don't have that kind of vehicle in our future product plan," he said. "If you increase the number of segments, then the resources we can allocate to each will decline and that will prevent us from developing truly good products."

Analysts applauded the decision to park the RX.

"A brand this size needs only so many poster cars," said Kurt Sanger, an auto analyst with Deutsche Securities Japan in Tokyo.

Kogai, an avid baseball fan and former pitcher, draws from the diamond when planning his product portfolio. The truly successful company doesn't rely on just one product, just as a pennant-winning team doesn't rely on a star power hitter. "We don't need a home run, if each player hits a single," he said.

But Kogai knows Mazda's Skyactiv engines, which first appeared in 2011, need updating to keep getting on base with customers.

That plan hinges largely on a new generation of engines, dubbed Skyactiv 2, that could debut by 2020 with a target of achieving 30 percent better fuel economy than the current line.

Mazda engineers outlined the strategy this year, saying the gains will come through improvements in the existing combustion engine technology and through the introduction of homogeneous charge compression ignition, or HCCI.

The latter technology compresses the fuel-air mixture to such a high pressure and temperature that it ignites by itself without requiring a spark, similar to the way a diesel engine operates. It's a technology that numerous automakers have pursued for decades, so far without commercial success.

Tough competition

Kogai declined to discuss the progress toward introducing HCCI.

Analyst Nakanishi expects the first such engines around 2018. They will use HCCI only during limited combustion ranges and rely on traditional spark ignition in others, he predicted.

Mazda's determination to squeeze better performance from the internal combustion engine diverges from the strategies of rivals with bigger r&d budgets, who are pursuing a range of alternative drivetrains, such as hybrids and fuel cells.

"They want best-in-class combustion engines, but they also will have to do something in terms of electrification," said Chris Richter, an auto analyst at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets in Tokyo.

"Of course, there are worries," he said. "They are competing directly against automakers with a lot more resources."

Mazda has invested in electrified drivetrains to meet more stringent emissions standards, mainly engine stop-start or brake-regeneration technologies. It licenses its hybrid system from Toyota.

Controlling cost on the new technology is paramount for Mazda, one of the world's smallest global, mass-market automakers. One reason Kogai wants to keep refining the Skyactiv engine is because it is a cost-effective approach with a proven technology.

"The biggest challenge will be how we can reduce costs," he said. "If technology costs a lot, I believe you can't just force it on customers simply because it's good technology."

Yet by just piggybacking on existing Skyactiv engines, Mazda's next generation runs the risk of delivering only incremental, not revolutionary, increases in performance and efficiency.

"It won't be easy," Kogai said, "but we need technologies that can be deployed across the board, and a way of reducing costs."

Mazda Launches All-New Advertising Campaign, "Driving Matters"

- New Campaign Communicates How the Joy of Driving Can Enhance Your Life -

IRVINE, Calif. (May 21, 2015) –The Oxford Dictionary defines "driving" as, "operating and controlling the direction and speed of a motor vehicle." Mazda believes that driving is more than a definition. Driving is an experience that can enhance your life. To better illustrate how every Mazda vehicle embodies why "Driving Matters," today Mazda North American Operations (MNAO) is rolling out a new advertising campaign.

Driving Matters is an evolution of the Game Changers campaign. With Game Changers, Mazda succeeded in increasing consumer awareness of the functional attributes of our vehicles. Driving Matters will extend the message by creating an emotional connection to the brand.

"Through the Driving Matters campaign, consumers will get a glimpse at why driving matters so much to Mazda and why we obsess over every detail in designing our cars," said Russell Wager, vice president of marketing, MNAO. "Whether it's for safety purposes or for maintaining our 'fun to drive' nature, it all comes down to the fact that driving matters to our customers and it matters to us."

Mazda's all-new Driving Matters campaign will showcase various aspects of what makes the driving experience so important. Through Mazda's advance technologies and design, the campaign will dive into the importance of vehicle safety, good-looks, fuel efficiency and the fun-to- drive personality of Mazda cars. The engineering and design that goes behind each car in Mazda's lineup epitomizes the enhancement driving has on a person's life.

The campaign will launch with "A Driver's Life," which chronicles the major moments and life stages in a driver's life, like getting a license and buying your first car, through raising a family and obtaining your "reward" car. The spot will feature multiple 2016 models but the aim is to celebrate driving and the core values of Mazda customers. The campaign will launch on Friday May 22nd in cinema and television with a mixture of a :60 and :30 second ads. It will be supported digitally and on our social channels.

"Mazda makes cars for people who take pleasure in driving, and "Driving Matters" perfectly aligns with that philosophy. Through our creative process, it became evident that Mazda's inspiration for pure driving enjoyment is something that relates to the typical car buyer," said Harvey Marco, creative director, Garage Team Mazda.

Mazda's long-running Zoom-Zoom tagline will continue to be a part of the brand's DNA. Since its inception in 2000, Zoom-Zoom has come to symbolize what a Mazda stands for – stylish, insightful and spirited – and the Driving Matters campaign will communicate the company's core belief in the joy of driving and illustrate the emotional enhancement driving has on our lives in everyday situations.

Mazda will deliver the new advertising message via in-cinema, television, print, out-of home and digital media.

Assets from the campaign can be seen on Mazda's media website.