Currently reading: Mazda's hybrid duo
Mazda follows the current fashion for hybrid power with two new concepts

Could this concept car form the basis of a bigger brother for the Mazda RX8? To be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show later this month, the Senku uses a mid-mounted rotary engine and like the RX-8, it’s a four seater.

But unlike the RX-8, the 1.3-litre engine forms part of a petrol-electric hybrid powertrain, and the Senku has two electrically-powered sliding doors rather than the RX-8’s four. Mazda says the Senku has perfect 50:50 weight distribution and that inside priority is given to the occupants of the front seats, indicating that the Senku is a 2+2 rather than a true four seater.

Mazda will also be showing a hybrid version of its 5 MPV at Tokyo, with a petrol/hydrogen rotary engine and an electric motor, and an RX-8 with a hydrogen-powered rotary engine that’s due to be leased to commercial fleets.

Advertisement

Read our review

Car review

The superb V8 engine breaths new life into the Bentley Continental GTC, without completely changing the formula established back in 2006

Add a comment…