> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://torquecafe.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Mazda RX-7 successor hangs in the balance - URL: https://torquecafe.com/mazda-news-iconic-sp-may-not-be-made/ - Published: 2025-11-05T02:00:17.000Z - Updated: 2026-06-04T06:43:44.000Z - Description: The production version of the Mazda Iconic SP - the MX-5 sized spiritual successor to the RX-7 - is hanging on by a financial thread. - Author: Jordan Mulach - Tags: News, Performance Mazda loves to tease, and when it revealed the Iconic SP Compact Sports Car concept at the 2023 Japan Mobility Show, tongues began wagging at the prospect of a long-awaited successor to the RX-7 becoming reality. With its RX-7-esque design on a footprint of an MX-5 and the prospect of a rotary engine - albeit as a generator - Mazda fans have begged for the Iconic SP to become reality, something which the brand hasn’t ruled out and has even hinted at happening. However, speaking to UK magazine [*Autocar*](https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ev-costs-could-kill-mazda-iconic-sps-production-hopes?ref=torquecafe.com) at this year’s Japan Mobility show, Mazda’s chief technology officer Ryuichi Umeshita had a far less upbeat outlook on the future of the Iconic SP, admitting for the first time there are financial constraints holding it back. “Let me answer personally: that is my dream car. I want to make it real,” Umeshita said. ![](https://torquecafe.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/mazda_iconic_sp_02-1.jpg) “Technology-wise, I believe it’s possible. The only outstanding issue is financial.” After first revealing the Iconic SP in concept form two years ago, Mazda has cut its investment in future electrified models - including the range-extender powertrain in the sports car - by about one-third. Mazda has been slow to the uptake of EVs and PHEVs, though late investments came at a time when the market started to cool, compounding its struggles. While it is still investing in rotary engines to make a meaningful comeback in range-extender EVs such as the [recently revealed Vision X-Coupe](https://torquecafe.com/mazda-reveals-turbocharged-rotary-coupe/), Mazda isn’t ready to sign its life away to make the Iconic SP. ![](https://torquecafe.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/crop_Rearqtr.jpg) 2023 Mazda Iconic SP concept “We have re-established the rotary engine development team, and we know that our DNA is in sports cars, so I would never say we gave it up,” Umeshita added. The rotary engine in the Iconic SP is expected to act as a generator for the on-board battery which feeds an electric motor, becoming a range-extender. [Previous reports by *Motortrend*](https://torquecafe.com/mazdas-rx-7-successor-one-step-closer/) have claimed the rear electric motor would produce about 270kW, much more than the official but under-rated 206kW turbocharged 13B rotary in the final FD RX-7s. Mazda’s Vision X-Coupe revealed last week is capable of producing up to 375kW,with a claimed driving range of 160km in electric-only mode, or up to 800km when the rotary engine is helping to charge the battery.