End of the line for Mazda RX-8

THE Mazda RX-8 is dead. Officially. Production will end soon and the final cars are likely to be driven from local showrooms by the middle of next year.

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THE Mazda RX-8 is dead. Officially. Production will end soon and the final cars are likely to be driven from local showrooms by the middle of next year.

Mazda has a farewell edition of the RX-8 in Japan, called the Spirit R, and it's now being assessed for Australia.

News that the world's only mass production rotary car will be no more comes from Japan less than two months after Carsguide was told emphatically by Mazda Australia that there was no plan to kill it. But the end of sales in the US and falling demand in Japan, with Europe also out of the action, mean the end was inevitable.

"We knew it was going to come to an end at some point but our plan is that the RX-8 will still continue in our line-up until 2012," says Mazda Australia spokesman Steve Maciver. "Production in Japan continues until June.

"As it is, there is a limited-edition car on the agenda and we're looking at it."

"Japan decided they wanted to end on a high. But we haven't made a decision on whether we will take it. So watch this space."

The RX-8 Spirit R is only a cosmetic tweak, with red-painted brake calipers, Recaro sports seats and 19-inch alloy wheels on the manual model, with the automatic distinguished by red highlights in the cabin, sports suspension and 18-inchers. Three colours are available - silver, black and white - and production will be limited to 1000 cars.

For now, Mazda Australia says it expects to be able to satisfy RX-8 fans with the cars it has in Australia and a limited number to come. "We've got stock for about three or four months, at the current selling rate," Maciver says. It sells about seven a month.

The RX-8 is the only major Mazda model using a rotary but the company refuses to give up on the unique engine. It is working on a hydrogen version and is chasing the efficiencies needed to meet strict future CO2 emission standards.