Mazda's next MX-5 targets 1,000 kg, and electric is not confirmed yet
The headlines say the next MX-5 goes electric. Mazda's own executives say combustion comes first
Mazda CEO Masahiro Moro has confirmed a weight target for the next-generation MX-5 in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, aiming for somewhere between 1,000 and 1,200 kg. Hitting the low end of that range would make it the lightest Miata since the original, but Moro's own comments on electrification are far more hedged than the headlines chasing this story suggest.
What Moro actually said
Moro's exact framing was that the next MX-5 "has to be able to be electric," language that describes architecture flexibility rather than a confirmed powertrain decision. Other Mazda executives have already said combustion will launch first, and weight is the reason given: an electric powertrain adds mass in exactly the place a car built around a 1,000 kg target cannot afford it.
Why combustion comes first
Mazda's own electrification targets back that up. The company is aiming for only 15 percent of global sales to be electric by 2030, spread across four planned EV models such as the Mazda 6e, and none of them has been named as the Miata. Moro described the brand's "Joy of Driving" philosophy as non-negotiable, and framed the shift to electric power as something that happens once the driving experience can be preserved, or once regulation forces the issue, not before.
The weight number in context
The current ND generation already spans 1,073 to 1,140 kg depending on trim, so a 1,000 to 1,200 kg target for the next car is not a dramatic leap on paper. The "lightest since the original" claim depends specifically on landing at the bottom of that range rather than the top, which is worth remembering the next time a headline treats the whole span as a promise rather than an ambition.
A generation that will not let go
The ND has been in production since the 2016 model year with no confirmed end date, recently refreshed with a new colour option, and already the longest-lived generation in Miata history. Nothing here suggests that changes soon, since Mazda appears to be taking its time deciding what actually replaces it.
AutoNext Take
"Has to be able to be electric" is doing a lot of work in these headlines, and it does not mean what the "Mazda Miata EV" framing implies. Mazda is describing a car that could eventually go electric if the numbers ever add up, not one that is switching over now, and its own executives are the ones saying combustion comes first. The actual news here is a weight target, not a powertrain reveal, and the two are not the same story no matter how many outlets write it that way.
