I'd say that's entirely believable - do you get the Mazda 6 MPS on that side of the pond? That already has a 2.3 turbo pushing out 260 ponies, and active 4wd.

Um, isn't the current Mazdaspeed 6 already AWD?

I am really not all that keen on the AWD system on the current Mazdaspeed6 which, according to the salesman I talked to, is really just FWD with up to 50% of the torque going to the rear wheels "when it is needed", in other words, when the front wheels slip.

If I am looking for an AWD car, it should probably have AWD...

@theeastbaykid: Remember, this is the MPS, not the Mazdaspeed6.

Hopefully it will look better than the last generation. The so-so styling didn't make it really stand out form the other 6's and some spots made it look worse to me(wasn't a fan of the revised taillights).

@reefer: That is what made a lot of people like it, actually. Since it didn't stand out it wasn't just another boy racer "lookit me!" type of car, but rather a below-the-radar sport sedan. This is the same reason why there was such a split on the new GTO/Monaro. A lot of people (like myself) loved the low-key styling and relative lack of showiness, but many others disliked the lack thereof.

Hmmm...I wonder if they'd import a foreign market 6 MPS into America. This would be interesting for a number of reasons:
The new American 6 is bigger and mildly different (extended/redesigned rear, accepts a fairly large V6 in the engine bay) than the rest of the world's, so an imported 6 wouldn't match the body of the American one.
That difference in mind, would they stick with a sedan, or would they bring different body styles (WAGON PLEASE!!!!) so that no one feels confused by the ever-so-slightly-different sedans.
And furthermore, I would feel somewhat doubtful they'd use Mazdaspeed badging for a car with maybe 7 more horsepower than the standard American V6.
I will say this, if they sell a Euro hatch or WAGON! mazda 6 MPS in America, and offer it in blue, and don't horrendously over price it, I'll be more tempted to put my money down on that than just about any car.

@Ben Wojdyla: Right. Let me rephrase...uh, isn't the current Mazda6 MPS already AWD? The article makes it sound like AWD is something the car didn't have before, that's all.

@theeastbaykid: Yeah. I am also confused. Isn't the MPS the Mazdaspeed 3?

@Ben Wojdyla:

MPS everywhere else is MazdaSpeed in North America. You may be getting confused with the MP3 Protege that was out a-ways back.

@Alphamazing:

These kinds of systems are much quicker than you might expect now-a-days. I've been in a few of these, and you'd be hard pressed to know when it's shifting power.

@teargas: No, it's the Mathematical Programming Society

@Feds: While this is true, I am much more partial to the Audi, BMW, and Subaru systems, which all at least offer full-time AWD and/or a more even torque distribution, especially at the max. I know the Audi quattro system can do a max of 67F/33R or 33F/67R when need be. That's a far larger range of values than the Mazda has.

However, since I'm in Texas AWD is pretty much useless.

@Alphamazing: I understand where your coming from, I also really really liked the understated looks of the GTO. BUT... I'd find myself eyeballing more mazda 6's with the sport package than I did the mazdaspeed.

@reefer: Exactly. It's subtle. Subdued. The Sport Package was designed to have a little flair, whereas the Mazdaspeed6 was designed to be more of a sleeper.

Jeez, why can't they name them "Mainline" or "Impala" or "Tornado" or "Electra" or "Charger"?
I did the numbers for the Porsches and early Benz group-but the last ones I wanted to know where 442 and 225.

More importantly, will this version have folding rear seats? That was a deal breaker in the old one.

Oh, and both the Mazda6 MPS and the Mazdaspeed 6 had their quasi-AWD system from the very beginning. This is not new.

@MountainDrew: The only way for them to have real folding seats would be to remove the bracing between the seats and the trunk, and that would kinda defeat the whole "stiffening the chassis" bit. The seats on the Mazdaspeed 6 do drop though, it just isn't very obvious, and requires you to remove the trunk backing to get to it.

@Novaload: Amen! So many cool new cars with crappy, forgettable, alphanumeric names.
Mazda was probably worried that Americans would call the 'Speed models "PMS" rather than "MPS".