The Mazda RX-Vision concept debuted over a year ago-at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show-and people still can't talking about it. It was only natural that the car was a topic of conversation when Autocar sat down with Kiyoshi Fujiwara, Mazda's research and development chief, at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show. There the British outlet was told that the business case for a new RX model was hard to make, because duh. But he did say that instead of the rotary-powered sports car making its own case for existence the new CX-5 could do the heavy lifting.

"Starting with the CX-5, we will try to build robust business health from here. Then after, if we are successful, we can build a robust business structure for the next generation [of products] and then the RX Vision will be a possibility. So the next CX-5 is important," Fujiwara told Autocar. But the automaker isn't just waiting around to see if the CX-5 is a hit. Mazda's head of R&D said a team (between 10 and 100 people) is working on a next-gen rotary engine. "There is no word to say 'stop' for rotary technology in my dictionary. I want to do that. In terms of the technology for rotary, we are developing new tech still. I'm an engineer and I believe there is a possibility to find new technology to make rotary work," he declared.

The other good news is that the first edition of Mazda's revived rotary won't feature electrification. Apparently that's an option down the line, but the initial offering "would be offered without it for the greatest purist appeal," as Autocar writes. OK, so now we have the game plan: purchase one new Mazda CX-5 per year until a new RX model is announced. Let's go out and execute, yeah?