Mazda Readies New Mid-Size Luxury Sedan for ’94 : Autos: Irvine-based division’s MX-08 aims at likes of Lexus, Infinity and Acura.

Only 11 months after scrapping plans for a luxury-car division, Mazda Motor of America said Wednesday it will launch a new mid-size luxury sedan next spring in the United States.

The Japanese auto maker last week announced a major restructuring and laid off 175 workers, most of them at its U.S. sales operation in Irvine. The beleaguered company has high hopes that the new sedan will compete successfully with other luxury lines such as Toyota’s Lexus, Nissan’s Infinity and Honda’s Acura.

In development for about five years, the car, code-named the MX-08, was originally intended to be the smaller of two flagship vehicles for a proposed luxury-car division called Amati. That plan was scrapped last October, however, as a rising yen and a poor U.S. economy continued to plague the company.

“Even though the Amati line was canceled, we wanted to see if there might be a market for the MX-08,” said Jack Pitney, spokesman for Mazda. “We found the car tended to appeal to a slightly younger, single or married consumer without children.”

The car will be marketed under the Mazda nameplate, filling a niche between the company’s 626 and 929 mid-size sedans. Mazda has not settled on the final features for the car, said Pitney, and he would not say how much the MX-08 would cost.

“We intend for it to be priced below the 929,” which sells for about $30,000, he said.

Specifics about the MX-08 and its actual name will not be released until the car’s debut at the Frankfurt International Auto Show Tuesday. Mazda also plans to introduce the car in the European and Japanese markets, Pitney said, but he would not specify when.

The MX-08 will offer a choice of two dual overhead camshaft, 24-valve V6 engines. Also included in the package will be four-wheel independent suspension, anti-lock brakes and dual air bags.

Industry analysts said the car’s success, however, will depend on its final features, its pricing and the marketing campaign developed for it. Some questioned how the MX-08 will compare to other luxury cars in an increasingly competitive market.

“It’s not going to be a cakewalk for this car. There are already some very good cars in its class,” said George Peterson, president of AutoPacific Inc., a consulting and market-research firm based in Santa Ana. “It’s a car that really diffuses their image rather than refocusing it, which is what they need to do.”

In the past several years, Peterson said, Mazda has brought out several new cars with what he called a limited advertising budget.

“As they launch this car, something else (in the Mazda stable) is going to get short shift,” he predicted.

Michael Luckey, an auto analyst with Luckey Consulting Group in New Jersey, said that the MX-08’s success will hinge on the advertising campaign and the price, which he predicted will be about $25,000.

In 1992, about 375,000 “entry-level” luxury cars were sold in the United States. Luckey said that number could grow to 400,000 annually. The entire luxury market totaled 1.8 million cars for 1992, the first year when imported models accounted for more of that sector’s sales than domestically produced ones, according to figures compiled by the Luckey Group.

Wire services contributed to this report.