Autoblog

Mazda's 6 is having a tough time finding love in its home market where it goes by the Atenza moniker. 7Tune is reporting that Mazda's going to flip the script and introduce three new variants of the Atenza; a coupe, a convertible, and a high performance version called the Mazdaspeed Atenza for JDM consumption. Mazda looked to the holy-grail BMW 3 series for inspiration, though that car is rear-wheel-drive, and hopes to achieve the same build quality with its Atenza line.

The vehicles in 7Tunes renderings are more conservatively styled than the current 3-Series, though that's hardly a bad thing. We think the renderings are easy on the eyes, with clear RX-8 influences, though all suffer from a basket-handle spoiler tacked on to the trunklid. It's tough to imagine the Mazdaspeed Atenza amounting to anything other than a tasty snack for the monstrous M3, though we're sure the Mazda will comport itself sportily. If any of this conjecture rings true, it's tough to go wrong benchmarking the icon of the segment.

[Source: 7tune]

click above to see the original rendering

If there's anything that Vince Burlapp of Hollywood Extra fame is good for, it's random sketches with no attribution and even less information. This newest pic appears to be a possible concept for a Mazda6-based coupe, sporting many of the design elements already seen in the newly redesigned Atenza.

Shifting into speculation mode, a Mazda6 coupe (or return of the MX6) seems like a great way to expand the range of Mazda's two-door offerings, while providing some competition for buyers looking at the Nissan Altima and Honda Accord coupes. We'll take that a step further and use our powers of prognostication to equip the coupe with both the 2.5-liter four and possibly the 3.7-liter V6, along with offering a Mazdaspeed version sporting the MS3's turbocharged 2.3-liter mill. We're smelling a winner, but it's all a pipedream until we hear something from Mazda.

UPDATE: As per usual, this image has turned out to be much ado about nothing. It's an official rendering from Mazda that was released when the new Mazda6 was first unveiled in Europe, and was released again today with the unveiling of the new JDM Mazda Atenza,. It has been flipped 180-degrees horizontally and had its color reduced. Thanks to Matthijs from Mazda-Madness for clearing this up!

[Source: The Hollywood Extra]