Mazda has reportedly ceased production of its RX-8 sports car, the only rotary-powered vehicle currently on the market, and possibly the last.

The reason is due to falling sales and an inability to meet toughening emissions and fuel economy regulations all around the world.

Last year Mazda only managed to sell 1,134 RX-8s, a 49 percent drop from the year before. The car’s best year was 2004, where Mazda sold a total of 23,690 examples.

The RX-8 has already been pulled from the European market, and in the U.S. there are only around 300 cars left as of August 1 for a 118-day supply.

Sales of the car in other markets are expected to cease by the end of the year.

While there have been reports of a successor, either a new-generation of the legendary RX-7 or possibly a high-end RX-9, the chances of this new model coming with a rotary engine is looking slim.

There have been reports of a new hybrid-powered Mazda sports car coming in to replace the RX-8, and just this month we reported that development of a new Mazda powered by a rotary engine had been officially halted, for both engineering and budgetary reasons.

[Autoweek]