Back in March, 2019, Mazda announced that it was hard at work on all-new six-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines, set to arrive within the next couple of years. Those mills, which both use a BMW-like inline configuration, are still in the pipeline as far as we know.

And in fact, some patent applications recently uncovered by the folks at super.asurada.com confirm that Mazda has indeed been working on such an engine, but there's something else, too; Mazda has also filed to patent a new eight-speed automatic transmission. The timing is such that it's very likely both could be intended for the same product, and we're dying to know what that is.

