Despite industry pressures to create more economical engines, Mazda intends keeping its rotary engine on the boil.

According to the company executive, the relatively thirsty powerplant will remain at the “technology core of the Mazda brand”.

Mazda’s Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer, Masazumi Wakayama said the rotary will continue to be the Mazda’s symbol in the future.

Mazda has also applied eco-friendly development to its rotary by way of hydrogen fuel.

The rotary engine boasts advantages over a conventional reciprocating engine, as it is currently used by the RX-8 and Premacy models for test purposes in Norway and Tokyo, because the combustion chamber is separated from the intake chamber, preventing incidence of pre-ignition of the highly flammable hydrogen fuel.

As far as the brand’s performance edge goes, its Zoom-Zoom — fun to drive — philosophy will remain, as too models like the sports-oriented MPS.

Mazda wants to expand MPS offerings in the future, but however Wakayama could not elaborate on Mazda’s future product details.

According to Wakayama, MPS is one of the symbolic models of the Zoom-Zoom strategy. It’s not an advertising campaign.

Wakayama can speak with some authority on the subject of rotary engines, having joined Mazda two years after the introduction of the powerplant in 1967 via the Cosmo Sport grand Tourer — the Japanese company’s original ‘halo’ model.