An important differentiator between surface and internally mounted permanent-magnet machines is the effect of rotor saliency. To explore this, a computationally efficient salient permanent-magnet machine model is set forth. This model is used in a formal multiobjective machine design optimization. It is shown that rotor saliency has little effect on the minimization of machine mass, magnet volume, or loss in a wide-speed-range permanent-magnet synchronous machine application. This suggests that the nonsaliency of standard surface mount machines may not be a limitation in wide-constant-power speed range applications, provided that the machines are designed for flux weakening.