When the silk was pulled off the facelifted 2018 Mazda 6 and a turbocharged petrol engine was announced, the natural next question was whether we'd see and all-wheel drive thrown into the mix.

Speaking to media at the 2017 Los Angeles motor show, president and CEO of Mazda North America Operations, Masahiro Moro said that huge demand in the US for all-wheel drive variants of the Mazda 3 and 6 have driven the brand to investigate overcoming the current platform limitations.

"I think we are not able to combine four-wheel drive and the 2.5-litre turbo. We have a layout issue with the sedans, that's why a four-wheel drive isn't deployed on the Mazda 3 and 6 so far," Moro said.

"But there is a huge demand, at least what I know is that in the east coast of the USA, 80 or 90 per cent of premium sedans are sold with all-wheel drive."

"Four-wheel drive becomes a premium queue for US consumers and obviously I have asked our R&D department to think about how we can accommodate four-wheel drive capability in the future," said Moro.