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The company debuts its small Kiyora ‘Sky Concept’ car today at the Tokyo Motor Show. It is 100kg lighter and about 25cm shorter than the Mazda2 and features the more efficient Sky-G (gasoline) engine and Sky-Drive automatic transmission.
While Sky project boss Nobuhiro Hayama would not say which vehicles would be the first to receive the Sky-G or Sky-D (diesel) powertrains with Sky-Drive, he said they would be introduced as new models came to market. The Mazda2 is possibly the next new model and is about the same size as the concept car.
Hayama said Mazda’s Sky concept communicates three ideas. “To provide joy of driving, environmental and safety to all customers under the beautiful blue sky,” he said. “The sky is the limit. There is no limitation to our possibility.”
Sky-G features direct injection technology and has 15 per cent more torque and 15 per cent better fuel economy than current petrol engines, matching current levels of their diesel engines. The Sky-D diesel engines would also have better fuel economy and lower CO2 emissions at ‘significantly’ lower costs, he said. The Sky-drive transmissions would be lighter and smoother.
Hayama also announced company targets for CO2 emission reductions of 20 per cent and fuel economy improvements of 30 per cent by 2015 and the introduction of electric vehicles and hydrogen-powered electric vehicles by 2020. He said their electric devices would be introduced ‘step by step’.
The first step is the introduction of ‘i-stop’ (idling stop) which is already available in Mazda 3 and the Biante in Japan.
It will be rolled out with new models. The technology uses combustion to restart the engine rather than a starter motor, resulting in a 0.35 second restart which is twice as fast as other stop-start technologies on the market. The second step would be regenerative braking to recharge the main battery.
The third step would be plug-in HEVs and battery-powered EVs, he said. “It will be provided at an affordable price,” Hayama said.
“This is the most realistic approach.”
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