It’s official, the Mazda MX-5 will get a replacement

Emission standards are increasingly threatening purely thermal cars. Without electrification, these models are now struggling to keep up with ever stricter environmental requirements. Small sports cars are particularly affected. If they are currently subject to extremely dissuasive penalties, they will be pushed out of the market in the future.

BMW has chosen not to replace the Z4 in order to avoid excessive investments that are unlikely to be profitable. Mazda, on the other hand, has decided to keep the MX-5 around after 2035, when the sale of new combustion engine cars will be banned. For the time being, the fifth generation of the small roadster will arrive in 2024 and will retain an internal combustion engine. The next model will go electric, however.

The director of Mazda Europe, Martijn ten Brink, has confirmed that the MX-5 will not die. With the future of the Japanese convertible confirmed, it now remains to be seen how the brand will meet the challenge. The essence of the MX-5 is simplicity and lightness, values that are difficult to combine with electrification which will inevitably add weight. But by then, battery research will have progressed significantly, which will certainly give Mazda room to manoeuvre.

It’s very likely that the next two generations of the MX-5 will be based on the Mazda Vision Study concept that was shown last year. Future iterations of the roadster are expected to feature a long, flat bonnet, a long wheelbase and split taillights, as was the case with the first MX-5. On the technical side, the electric MX-5 will choose a small battery in order not to penalize its weight.

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