Mazda outlines electrification strategy, seeking outside help for slow move to EVs

Japanese automaker Mazda, one of Australia’s most popular marques, has outlined its own electrification strategy – one that maintains its commitment to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles ,as well as hybrid and battery electric models.

The new “Lean Asset Strategy” unveiled at the Mazda Multi-Solution Briefing in Tokyo on Tuesday is designed to enable it to “flexibly navigate the era of electrification”, but includes commitments to ICE vehicles,  full hybrid powertrains and EVs.

But it also includes some cost cutting. In 2022, Mazda announced that it would invest around ¥1.5 trillion in electrification by 2030. However, according to Mazda’s executives, this number would actually have turned out to be closer to ¥2 trillion due to inflation.

Mazda is now restricting investment back to the original ¥1.5 trillion amount – which works out to be a decrease on what they had originally planned – and will achieve this by doing more in collaborations and partnerships.

The company will halve its spending on EV batteries from over ¥750 billion, with local news outlet Nippon claiming that Mazda will manage this in part by developing EVs for markets including Southeast Asia with Chinese joint venture partner Changan Automobile Group.

“The automotive industry is currently undergoing a turn of the century, and Mazda is also evolving by transferring Mazda’s signature driving pleasure to the next generation of vehicles,” said Masahiro Moro, president and CEO of Mazda.

“All of us at Mazda strive to find the right balance between efficient corporate management and the development of sustainable technologies to create unique value in individual mobility, regardless of the company’s size.”

Mazda is also developing a new in-house battery EV platform which it says will be “highly flexible” and allow for various battery types and vehicle models.

The new BEV platform will be put to the test with a Mazda EV set to launch in 2027 which will be produced in Japan for a global release, and which will use battery cells developed in collaboration with Panasonic Energy Corporation.

This will be Mazda’s first EV developed completely on its own, with other Mazda electric vehicles built on other company’s platforms – such as the Changan EPA1 platform.

But Mazda isn’t focusing solely on battery electric vehicles. Company executives promised that Mazda would also deliver a new full hybrid system it has developed, as well as continue to release vehicles with its Skyactiv technologies which are designed to increase the efficiency and output of internal combustion engines.

Specifically, its latest Skyactiv-Z technology will supposedly meet strict emissions regulations such as Euro 7 in Europe, and LEV4 and Tier 4 in the US, and will serve as the company’s “core engine” in its “engine line-up in the era of electrification.” The Skyactiv-Z technology will also be introduced in Mazda’s proprietary hybrid system from the next CX-5 by the end of 2027.