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... but may not be cheaper to motorists.
Mazda Australia boss Doug Dickson said it would be "most unlikely" that the Skyactiv vehicles would be cheaper.
"Price is determined according to equipment offered, not necessarily production costs," he says. "Every manufacturer tries to decrease production costs. But we're going out on our own with Skyactiv and don't have Ford to share the costs of production."
Mazda executive officer Kyoshi Fuziwara - one of four officers who flew out to Melbourne this week from headquarters in Japan for briefings on Skyactiv technology - also could not promise cheaper production would flow through as cheaper prices.
He says prices would be more likely to "stay the same" with the new models.
Dickson also refused to comment on which model would be the first to have Skyactiv technology. He could only say that a vehicle with a Skyactiv-G petrol engine and Skyactiv-Drive automatic transmission - Mazda's first passenger diesel car with auto - would be introduced this year. He says the Skyactiv-D diesel engine with Skyactiv-Drive automatic transmission would arrive next year.
"But we're not saying which ones yet," he says.
Dickson says Mazda is no different from other manufacturers in producing new technologies to save fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"Customers expect that their brand will be fuel efficient, making them free to make their buying decision on design, price and features," he says.
While Mazda is following industry trends with the use of lightweight materials, some of the Skyactiv methods used to achieve better economy and emissions are unique. Instead of following the European trend of smaller capacity petrol engines with forced induction (turbo or super-charging), Skyactiv uses high-compression naturally aspirated engines.
While the petrol engines are going with race-style high compression, Skyactiv-D engines have low compression. Mazda has also chosen to depart from the trend toward continuously variable or double-clutch transmissions by producing a torque converter automatic with greater lock-up of gears across the range.
"Mazda hasn't gone down the conventional routes; that gives us an enduring edge," Dickson says. "This technology covers everything from engines to materials, weight, chassis, manufacturing, etc with fuel economy improvements up to 30 per cent by 2015.
"We will have a future Mazda family car with Sky technology that will offer 4.2L/100km fuel economy and CO2 emissions of just 112g/km. It will also be more refined, more affordable to make and more fun to drive which is absolutely fundamental to Mazda. Sky will give us bragging rights."
The highly technical briefing by Japanese experts was followed by back-to-back test drives around Sandown race circuit in current Mazda6 diesel/manual and petrol/auto sedans with a Sky prototype diesel/auto based on a slightly stretched Mazda6. Results were astounding.
This isn't a small step for Mazda, but a quantum leap. Even without the noise dampening of a production car, the prototype sounded quieter than the current diesel. Together with the automatic gearbox, it accelerates in a linear fashion like no other diesel, revving out to 5300rpm and changing smoothly and decisively. There was a slight turbo pause, then strong launch without the sudden boost and torque steer of many higher performance turbo diesel engines.
The diesel sedan felt comfortable on the racetrack, even the technical sections where the quick change of direction highlighted the car's agility and light weight.
