Mazda to revive MPS performance brand at Frankfurt and debut new CX-9 at LA; born-again CX-7 to follow

Mazda performance fans rejoice: motoring.com.au has learned the Japanese brand will finally confirm plans to revive its long-dormant MPS go-faster brand at the Frankfurt motor show in September.

The MPS comeback will debut in the form of a Mazda3 MPS hot hatch concept, which will morph into a production model relatively quickly, powered by a new 2.5-litre turbocharged engine delivering up to 220kW, as part of a midlife makeover for the Mazda3.

What’s more, the same new turbo-petrol four will exclusively power Mazda’s second-generation CX-9, which we can reveal will make its world debut at the Los Angeles motor show in November.

And in more future model news, Mazda is set to revive its CX-7 nameplate on an all-new SUV that will follow the new CX-9, in the form of a stretched CX-5 with a 5+2 seating arrangement.

We expect the born-again CX-7 to surface sometime next year, when it will join the full-size CX-9 seven-seater in an expanded Mazda SUV model range that will by then comprise four models, including the new CX-3 city-crossover and top-selling CX-5 mid-sizer.

Unlike the discontinued five-seat CX-7, the new seven-seater will be powered by a range of efficient four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines from the CX-5, and priced between it and the CX-9 from under $50,000.

It’s understood Mazda — like Mitsubishi with its long-running Outlander, Nissan with its latest X-TRAIL and Land Rover with its new Discovery Sport — has recognised demand for a seven-seat mid-sizer as SUV sales continue to boom globally.

On the possibility of a new seven-seat CX-7, Mazda Australia marketing director Alastair Doak recently told us: “If Mazda was to develop such a product, of course we’d put our hands up.”

Doak would not comment on the reincarnation of Mazda’s MPS performance brand, which has been the subject of speculation since the last MPS model, the previous-generation Mazda3, was killed off two years ago.

However, Australia is Mazda’s fourth largest market globally and the local outfit has consistently lobbied its parent company for the revival of higher-performance versions of its core passenger models.

The MPS nameplate was first seen on the Mazda6 between 2005 and 2007, then the Mazda3 between 2006 and 2013. Both were powered by the same 190kW/380Nm 2.3-litre inline four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that powered the old CX-7.

We expect Mazda will follow up the 2016 Mazda3 MPS with an all-new Mazda6 MPS by 2017 — also part of an upgraded mid-cycle model range — powered by the same new 2.5-litre turbo engine, development of which was necessitated by the downsizing of the current CX-9’s V6 to a turbo-petrol four.

Mazda has also hinted its new-generation MPS range may also grow to include the new MX-5, and a Mazda MPS is also a possibility to compete with light-size hot hatches such as the Volkswagen Polo GTI, Ford Fiesta ST, Renault Clio RS and Peugeot 208 GTi.

Unlike the previous Mazda3 hot hatch and any potential MX-5 MPS, however, both the new Mazda3 and 6 MPS are likely to be all-wheel drive.

That means Mazda’s first and most popular new MPS model could be positioned above front-drive small performance hatches like Ford’s facelifted 184kW Ford Focus ST ($38,990), Renault’s 195kW-plus Megane RS (from $43,990), Volkswagen’s 162kW Golf GTI (from $41,990), which comprises about 20 per cent of all Golf sales here, and Honda’s new 228kW Civic Type-R due here in 2017.

Indeed, if the 3 MPS is reincarnated with 220kW, AWD and a circa- $50K pricetag, it would become Mazda’s first direct rival for the likes of Volkswagen’s 206kW Golf R and the 221kW Subaru WRX STI – and the perfect entree to a born-again rotary sports flagship rumoured to launch by 2020.