Mazda Seriously Considering Returning To The Pickup Segment

We all know that it's only a matter of time (and interest) before Mazda launches its rotary-powered sports car, but there's another segment that the automaker is seriously considering re-entering - the pickup truck segment.

In an interview with Car and Driver, Mazda CEO Masahiro Moro said that the company has received requests from its data partners for a small pickup truck. Admittedly, Moro knows Mazda has a problem with that request - it doesn't have a platform for a pickup. It was in 2009 when Mazda last sold a pickup truck in America, and even back then, the B-Series trucks were merely Mazda-badged Ford Ranger pickups. That was over 15 years ago, but Moro is still open to using the same strategy as before.

"We could work with other OEMs to get it. Pickup truck is good for many people. Our coverage of the total industry is only 50 percent because we don't have a pickup truck. It's good time to think about a future portfolio."

It Needs To Be Made In America

That's not to say that Mazda doesn't already have a pickup truck on offer. It does have the Mazda BT-50, sold in Australia and some parts of Asia as a midsize truck that rivals the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, and Isuzu D-Max. However, the D-Max-based BT-50 is more of an Isuzu rather than a Mazda, with only its styling being attributed to the Hiroshima-based automaker.

If Mazda is serious about returning to the pickup segment in the US, it needs to be manufactured in the US, not only to curb the current US government tariffs against imported goods but also to skirt around the long-running, dreaded chicken tax. This should be in similar vein to Hyundai partnering with GM for an American truck.

Bringing Back The Sporty Sedan

Moro isn't just interested in offering a small pickup truck. The Japanese head honcho is also interested in offering a sporty sedan, a segment that he thinks has shrunk but is still popular with fans. "We've got a really beautiful concept. We already have this idea. We are able to install a six-cylinder, but marketability remains a concern," Moro told C&D.

With Mazda on the cusp of revealing its newly developed combustion engine in the next-generation CX-5, there are several possibilities in this regard. The SkyActiv-Z gasoline engine is promising, with an inline-six version to be offered after the four-pot hits the market. We'll know more concrete details as they come, but right now, Mazda's future portfolio of a rotary-engined sports car, a sporty sedan, and possibly a pickup truck sounds like a dream.