It's Official - Mazda to Develop Next-Gen Rotary Engine

During the Mazda Tech Forum in Frankfurt, Germany, a Mazda executive confirmed that Mazda is continuing to develop their revolutionary Wankel rotary engine concept.

Mitsuo Hitomi, Mazda's Technical Research Centre and Integrated Control System Development boss, said the development of the engine will be focused on fixing some shortcomings of the engine such as apex seal wear and oil consumption. 

"We're still continuing development of the next generation rotary engine," said Hitomi. 

"We cannot improve the rotary engine to the current conventional engine emissions," Hitomi added. "We are investigating various kinds of emission systems to ensure ideal condition." 

The focus on fuel burning efficiency was also reinforced by Hidetoshi Kudo, Mazda's head of product strategy. 

"As you know, flame propagation is an issue in rotary engines. We are looking at laser ignition and plasma ignition, but a laser is very expensive," said Kudo. 

Kudo mentioned rotary engines being of high importance for Mazda while talking of 2020 being Mazda's 100^th anniversary. This could mean Mazda might be planning on introducing the engine during that time. 

As for now, enthusiasts will just have to wait and watch.