New 2022 Mazda 6 to Debut RWD Platform & Straight-Sixes – Redesigned Japanese mid-sized car is expected to be a real BMW 3 Series rival when it is revealed early next year. The new generation of Mazda 6 will not only unveil the Japanese carmaker’s new rear-wheel-drive platform but also will introduce a new line of inline six-cylinder engines that are electrified when it’s announced early next year.
2022 Mazda 6 Redesign
This is according to the Japanese website Best Car, which also has this stunning rendering of 2022’s Mazda6 (below) and it would make Mazda’s next top-of-the-line sedan and wagon an immediate rival for Germany’s last rear-drive straight-six premium automobile that is BMW 3 Series. BMW 3 Series. Mazda’s ground-breaking new rear-drive/inline-six platform has been well documented and was previously expected to first appear underneath the next-gen Mazda CX-5 in 2022. But, Best Car says the rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive model will debut in the new Mazda6 model, scheduled to launch next spring in Japan in March and May 2022.
Engine
The Japanese website has also provided details of Mazda’s latest range of electrified powertrains. These will be featured in the next-generation CX-5 by 2023. It’s part of the company’s plans to electrify the entire lineup by 2030, by when about a quarter of sales will be electric vehicles. In addition, Mazda promised three fully-electric vehicles (EVs), as well as five plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) as well as five electric hybrid vehicles (HEVs) by 2025, and all thirteen of them, are currently in the pipeline for Australia.
In 2025 Mazda plans to introduce the first EV platform called “SKYACTIV EV Scalable Architecture’ that can be modified in terms of width, length, and battery capacity, to make various future EVs. Even the Mazda’s new premium RWD/AWD platform – and, consequently, the following Mazda6 CX-5 and CX-8 as well as CX-9 – will have the electrified powertrains built around the newly developed 3.0-liter 6-cylinder engines.
2022 Mazda 6 Specs
The models include an inline petrol six that has 48-volt mild hybrid (HEV) technology, which produces about 300Nm and 210kW, as well as a plug-in-hy (PHEV) powertrain based on the same SKYACTIV-G engine. There is also a SKYACTIV-X model equipped with SPCCI compression-ignition technology and an engine that is turbocharged to provide at the very least 250kW. The petrol engines will be complemented by a larger 3.0-liter turbo-diesel inline (SKYACTIV-D) using the same mild-hybrid HEV 48-volt technology, which has 210kW/600Nm of power and is as well as a new automatic transmission with six speeds. Incredibly, Best Car says a new 2.0-litre four-cylinder SKYACTIVG petrol engine equipped with 48V HEV technology is being developed for small cars such as the Mazda3 and the all-new 1.5-liter three-cylinder petrol engine SKYACTIVX to be used in the coming Mazda2. With a similar engine approach as BMW’s, this will be Mazda’s latest inline petrol six, cut in half. Mazda’s secret weapon could be the eventual range-wide use of the MX-30’s new electric range extender that rotates.