It feels like Mazda is perpetually stuck in a cycle of showing off stunning concepts to the world, suggesting they might come to production one day, and then not putting said concepts into production. It started back in 2018 with the original Vision Coupe concept, before the company revealed the even prettier RX-Vision, powered by a rotary engine, in 2020. Then, in 2023, Mazda revealed the Iconic SP concept, another stunning, rotary-powered coupe.
Now, the company’s done it again. Mazda describes the Vision X-Coupe, revealed today at the Tokyo Mobility Show, as a “crossover coupe,” though it looks more like a four-door fastback to me. The proportions are just about perfect, measuring in at 198 inches long and 58 inches tall (or about as long and tall as a Chrysler 300). And like the last two Vision concepts I mentioned, it gets rotary power.
Two rotaries and a turbocharger, to be specific. The Vision X-Coupe uses a plug-in hybrid powertrain, though Mazda doesn’t say whether the combustion engine is connected to the wheels, or it’s simply used as a generator for the battery and electric motor onboard. Total output, Mazda says, is 503 horsepower. The X-Coupe can go 99 miles on battery power alone, or up to 497 miles when the twin-rotary engine is kicked on.
Mazda claims the Vision X-Coupe runs on carbon-neutral fuel using the company’s “proprietary CO2 capture technology,” which comes from microalgae. According to the automaker, these algae capture CO2 and store oil in their cells. Mazda extracts that oil and turns it into usable fuel. The result is a car that “contributes to reducing atmospheric CO2 the more it is driven,” says the brand.
Though Mazda says nothing of the X-Coupe’s four-seat interior, I see some interesting details. Most importantly, there are three big analog gauges, with a rev-counter in the middle for the twin-rotary engine—something you don’t really expect to see in a plug-in hybrid crossover. There’s also a real shift lever in the center console, which is nice. The rest of the dash seems to be a big, flat display that extends into the passenger area.
The Vision X-Coupe isn’t the only new concept Mazda brought to the Tokyo Mobility Show. There’s also the Vision X-Compact. It’s a tiny hatchback design study that measures just 150 inches long and 70 inches wide, making it far smaller than the current Mazda3 hatchback you’ll see in dealerships today (it has nearly the same proportions as the last Fiesta Ford sold in America).
While the X-Compact carries a similar fascia to the X-Coupe, Mazda says nothing of what might be powering the cute hatchback, but the company does harp on its ability to talk to you like a real person:
The MAZDA VISION X-COMPACT is a model designed to deepen the bond between people and cars through the fusion of a human sensory digital model and empathetic AI. Acting like a close companion, it is capable of engaging in natural conversation and suggesting destinations, helping expand the driver’s world. This represents Mazda’s vision for the future of smart mobility, where vehicles and people form an emotional connection, much like a friend.
The X-Compact’s interior is similarly bare, save for a real gear selector, a circular digital gauge cluster, and what looks to be a mount for a phone.
Like all of its other concepts from the past seven years, Mazda says these cars represent the company’s vision for the future, which means you should expect to see elements from each design incorporated into upcoming production vehicles.
To me, bringing back the rotary for a real-deal sporty car always seemed like a pie-in-the-sky idea, as much as I truly want it to happen. Mazda made some good on its promise with the introduction of the rotary range extender in the MX-30 back in 2022, but aside from the launch of a specific department to develop rotary engines, it’s been crickets from the brand since. Let’s hope the second half of the decade is different, and not just more concepts.
Top graphic image: Sam Abuelsamid
What happens when my empathetic AI close companion and I have a little tiff?
Does it have two rotary engines, or a two rotor engine?
Came to ask the same, two separate engines does not seem likely, I’m guessing it’s the twin rotor, but interested to hear confirmation one way or the other.
TBH, drop the rotary and put the I-6 in there. WIN.
Give me the older ~2015 RX-vision concept with the current turbo I-6 and I would be at the dealer yesterday
“the company does harp on its ability to talk to you like a real person”
No.
Now if you have an AI that can scream at OTHER drivers in their own cars, I’m in.
“This represents Mazda’s vision for the future of smart mobility, where vehicles and people form an emotional connection, much like a friend.”
Sooo… every three years or so you’re going to trade in your “friend”? I don’t think Mazda’s quite worked this one out…
Nice looking Jaguar.
I sill prefer the little red car.
“empathetic AI […] Acting like a close companion, it is capable of engaging in natural conversation […] vehicles and people form an emotional connection, much like a friend.”
Mazda. Mazda listen to me right now.
This is the opposite of emotional connection. We’ve had these infotainment gewgaws before, even without “AI.” Remember that thing Mini did where they gave a bunch of voice lines to the parts of the car so they could all yap at you at once like you’re playing an escort mission, the thing nobody likes?
Or that other time Mini tried putting a little animated dog in the infotainment screen?
Mazda I love you but we need an intervention here. Infotainment is not how you get people to form an emotional attachment with their car, because infotainment degrades over time. It takes precious few slowdowns and aggravations to turn an endearing AI copilot into an absolute chore and then all the cute personality traits become detrimental to one’s enjoyment.
People get emotionally attached to their cars because of the memories they make in them. A car they can keep their whole lives and then pass on to their family will make 100,000% more “emotional attachment” than some probabilistic slop generator engendering dreams of a Butlerian Jihad.
In summary, forego the hallucination engine and create a car that is:
wait is this just an NA Miata? This is an NA Miata isn’t itDoes Mazda even have a functional rotary engine that could go in such a car? They keep talking about bringing rotaries back and that they’re developing one, but I can’t remember if they have demonstrated a working one yet.
What are those? Windows for ants? How are people supposed to drive when they can’t even see outside the car?
We have cameras for people who can’t see outside their cars good and want to do other stuff good too.
“Mazda extracts that oil and turns it into usable fuel”
How carbon neutral is “extracting oil from algae?”
Also, I could not name a single Mazda on sale today, beyond the Miata.
“Carbon neutral” is supposed to mean that you don’t add any extra CO2 to the atmosphere.
When you burn fossil fuels, you are taking carbon out of the ground and putting it in the air.
Algae-based biofuel takes CO2 out of the air and turns it into a hydrocarbon, which then gets put back into the air when it is burned.
The X-Compact’s phone holder in lieu of a touchscreen must be inspired by that trend for low trim model compacts in Europe. I’m not against the idea but I don’t foresee that (or compacts) coming to the US.
I drool over the silver vision concept car they rolled out. Looked like it could have gone into production. The spinning Dorito engine may not be best for driving the wheels, but if designed as a single-speed, computer-controller range extender coupled with a matching generator seems like the best option for EREVs. The small footprint, few moving parts, and HIGH RPM (low torque) makes a good fit for that use-case.
I like the proportions of the earlier VISON a little better than this one, but I’d still be first in line with my checkbook screaming “Shut up and take my money!” if they sold it in the US. It would make a fantastic halo car as a high-end coupe.
Mazda: more cars with roofs so low and windshields so steeply raked that you can’t get in without hitting your head and can’t see out of once you do manage to get in.
That’s not disruptive, that’s just terrible design.
My ‘94 Miata has a pretty upright windshield that affords a good view of the road ahead and the hood of the car, strive for that next time.
Looks like the 2026 CX5 update is taller and closer to what you want. I think it’s a bit ugly compared to the earlier models though.
https://news.mazdausa.com/image/2026_CX5_05_1080v1th.jpg
Not to mention they got rid of the physical controls in the center console, and replaced it with a touchscreen. Come on Mazda! Be better.
They’ll keep doing it if you keep headlining it
I don’t think we will see another rotary sporty car ever from Mazda.
What I will say is this once great concept design has now become a clone of the Jaguar concept, just as ugly and will never see the light of day because no one, I mean no one in their right mind thinks those cars look good or fast.
Link to jag concept for reference https://www.jaguarusa.com/copy-nothing/jaguar-type-00/index.html
The RX-Vision is even older than you remember. It debuted as a concept in 2015. Mazda has been doing this for a decade now. As a lifelong rotary fan, even I don’t think it’s happening. Ever.
Loose seal! Watch out for the loose seal!
https://youtu.be/F1ghLL89UdQ?si=DbTMgYhZdn2O7hXU
Let’s just put the rotary thing to bed already. Its not a very good engine just from a basic principle alone and they get pretty awful fuel economy. There is no advantage at all other than saying “oh look, its got one of those weird engines!”
If there was a “Rotary Division” sign in Mazda HQ, you could peel back the label and find “Public Relations” underneath
As I posted in the Discord, I’m a self-professed Mazda fanboy. Have had a 2008 Mazda3 all through and after college (for six years total), two CX-5s (a 2013 and a 2016), and my current 2016 Mazda6 that I’ve driven for ten years now.
And I for one think Mazda needs to stop with the concepts of stuff that’ll never happen.
They are a small company and they need to act like it. Make and preview stuff that is profitable, that people will (at least somewhat) want, and will help the company stay afloat with the current worldwide economic patterns. Stop with these wildly excessive “design experiments.”
The latest in a manufacturer debuting a long line of truly awesome cars and then ignoring anything and everything about them.
Remember the Cadillac showcars of the early-mid 2000s? The mid-engine V12 roadster? That awesome V16? There were one or two others that slip my mind right now.
Anyways, its a rotary. We’ll never see it happen due to emissions. Might be able to do some magic with a diesel rotary, but we’ll never see another gasoline rotary come out.
C’mon Mazda, give us huge windows
“Mazda… this is the third time youve brought a rotary for show and tell”
“Yeah, but this one has ultra rare AI controlled hvac, with factory flawed taillights!”
Pfff, my RX8 had factory flawed taillights in 2008. Old tech.