Here's How Mazda Is Revamping Its Electric Vehicle Strategy
Mazda updates its EV strategy for the second half of the decade, planning to decrease its investment in EVs while still introducing new models.
The automaker is adopting what it calls a Lean Asset Strategy for EVs, relying on existing partnerships and reducing capital investment with common assembly lines for ICE and EV models in coming years.
Mazda has been a notable holdout when it comes to mass-market EVs, at least in the US, recently launching an electric sedan in China and planning another more global EV for 2027, set to be built in Japan.
Mazda's recent EV efforts stateside have been underwhelming, with the automaker launching and withdrawing its short-range MX-30 model from the US market just a couple of years ago.
The experiment certainly raised a few eyebrows, while also raising questions regarding the automaker's longer-term plans for EVs, just as many of its competitors from Japan were rolling out mass-market EVs.
Those who have been hoping for an electric MX-5 will need to wait a while longer, we fear, as the automaker's latest EV strategy does not place all of its chips on battery-electric models.
This month Mazda has revealed what it calls a Lean Asset Strategy, charting a course that will see the automaker rely on existing partnerships in the near future when it comes to electric models.
The automaker says it will scale back its prior EV investment plans, announced in 2022, from $13.3 billion to $10 billion. Mazda also plans to reduce development costs of some of its planned EV models, while also relying on existing plants instead of separate ones to produce upcoming electric models.
By using the same production lines for both ICE and BEV models—a tactic now common in the industry—Mazda says it will reduce the initial capital investment by some 85%.
Overall, the automaker still views the next five years in conservative terms when it comes to EV adoption.
"Mazda considers the period up to 2030 to be the 'dawn of electrification,' and under the 2030 Management Policy, the company will promote electrification with multi-solution to flexibly respond to diversifying customer needs and environmental regulations," the automaker said.
The good news is that a new EV is on the way, slated to use a platform developed in-house and built in Japan for export. It is expected to be an SUV, adding to the 6e electric sedan that will go on sale in Europe later this year, produced with automaker Changan in China.
"For the battery EV to be launched in 2027, the company expects to reduce development investment by 40% and development man-hours by 50% compared to conventional development through collaboration and partnership," the automaker said.
In laying out its revised EV strategy, Mazda says it will continue to develop its internal-combustion engines in the coming years, signaling the debut of its SkyActiv-Z engine.
This new powerplant, paired with Mazda's proprietary hybrid system, will arrive in 2027 under the hood of the CX-5. The SkyActiv-Z's gains in combustion efficiency will be applied to inline-six variants as well, the automaker hinted, and will also find its way into a rotary engine.
So Mazda isn't moving away from its internal-combustion tech anytime soon, or rotary engines for that matter, with plans for additional development.
But a reduction in the variety of engines is on the way.
"Including SkyActiv-Z, the number of engine units will be reduced to less than half, and the control software will be consolidated to two-thirds in the future," the automaker noted.
Mazda's overall strategy appears very cognizant of battery-electric vehicles' actual market share in a number of key regions at the moment, and also very cognizant of the automaker's own resources and core audience.
These factors do not dictate a head-snapping turn to an EV-heavy lineup, but they do suggest some limited offerings in a couple of EV-friendly regions like China and western Europe.
Mazda's battery-electric US offerings are expected to be beefed up by the end of the decade, but don't expect to see an electric version of every single Mazda model on sale by 2030.
Should Mazda introduce more EVs into its lineup soon, or does this measured approach make sense for now? Let us know in the comments.
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