While I like Mazda cars, the rotary is dead.  Trend today is for compact turbos that make good torque low down, lightweight and fuel efficient.  Mazda is still stubborn and is sticking to larger displacement Skyactive engines which needs winding up to make the equivalent torque vs. it's smaller turbo rivals.  Toyota is late is launching their compact mainstream 1.2T engine although Lexus has replaced the 2.5 V6 with the new 2.0T.

The other area is transmissions.  It's a shame to see great engines being paired up with outdated and inefficient 6SP auto slushbox (e.g. NX200T).  Mazda is also very late in the tranny tech race..  Lexus/Toyota has 8/9spd trannys coming soon.  Honda DCTs and stepped CVTs which are highly efficient.

Also, in terms of innovation, look at the weight of the vehicle to see how it stacks up to it's competitors.  The new B9 A4, and the W205 C class is a generation ahead of BMW's F30.  Modular platforms which uses ultra high tensile steel to give the rigidity and stiffness but without the fat.  It takes manufacturers a lot of R&D $$$ to develop a new platform/Body in White that meets/exceeds the latest safety standards (e.g. small overlap crash tests), so some companies just rehash old BIWs and chassis for new models (e.g. current gen BMW 3 series).