When the first generation Mazda MPS released twelve years ago, it sent waves through the hot hatch segment; it was an incredibly powerful hatchback, which was insanely fun to drive.
Unfortunately, the turbocharged, manual transmission masterpiece died off with the introduction of the 2013 Mazda3, and while there have been rumours of its recreation, nothing has been confirmed.
The source of most of the rumours surrounding the new Mazda MPS is Hiroyuki Matsumoto, Mazda's head of global development and planning, becuase, if any would know anything about Mazda's plans, it'd be him.
Mazda may have the means, and be able to build an engine to meet the demands of a new generation hot hatch, but according to Matsumoto, they have absolutely no plans to do it.
In Mazda UK notes addressed to the Australian branch, it states that there is a desire to resurrect a hot-hatch, but it isn't on the company's radar. This could be down to the fact that Mazda is a significantly smaller company than their hot hatch competition such as Honda or VW.
Being a smaller company and investing in a performance niche may be a mistake when they have incredible efficiency technology such as the new SkyActiv-X engine in production.
As we've seen throughout car manufacturing history, sensible everyday cars make a lot more money for brands than specialised performance vehicles.
While we'd love to see the MPS badge resurrected on Mazda's great new Mazda3 hatch, we're sceptical about the prospect. It might make financial sense for Mazda to follow in other manufacturer's footsteps and use one of their smaller SUVs as a base for this project instead.