Mazda's Tokyo Show concept will likely preview the next Miata

This year’s Tokyo Show is shaping up to a mighty good one with exciting reveals from Lexus, Daihatsu and more all announced. And now Mazda is joining in with its own reveal. It has no official name, and only the dimly lit teaser at this point. But all signs point to this being a preview of the next-generation Mazda MX-5 Miata.

In the press release announcing Mazda’s Tokyo Show display, it notes first and foremost that the theme is “The future created by the ‘love of cars’.” And apparently in addition to this concept, the other key models on display will the be recently updated Japanese-spec Miata as well as a version of the Miata designed to be used entirely with hand controls called the MX-5 SeDV. Add in the fact that the current Miata generation has been around for around 7 years, and it seems very likely this concept is for a future Miata.

With that in mind, the taillights themselves even seem to channel some vintage Miata cues. The taillights have two round outside lenses that intersect to create a third one. It’s reminiscent of NA and NB taillight lenses, if a bit abstracted. But even if we’re off on that, they still look sharp.

We’ll also be curious how close this concept will be to a production model. We’re betting it won’t be too far off. Mazda, when its concepts do have a production model connection, do have a good track record of reaching dealers without massive changes. The Mazda Kai, which became the 3, is the best most recent example we can think of, but looking back, there’s the Ibuki that previewed the NC Miata, and the RX-8’s various concept iterations. So this probably won’t be just some pie-in-the-sky concept, and that has us even more excited. Stay tuned for all the details closer to the Tokyo Show.

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