Mazda plans Aussie EV onslaught: “We hope to take them all”

Every model Mazda plans to roll out under its ambitious global electrification plan is under consideration for Australian sale.

The Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030 roadmap announced on June 18 calls for the Japanese brand to launch five hybrid models, five plug-in hybrids and three new pure battery electric vehicles by 2025.

A bespoke EV architecture will launch in 2025 and by 2030 Mazda proposes that its entire line-up of models will offer some form of electrified option, including the iconic MX-5 sports car.

Currently Mazda Australia offers one electrified model, the mild-hybrid MX-30 M Hybrid. The brand’s first BEV, the MX-30 Electric, will go on-sale within months.

But what is currently an electric trickle could soon become a torrent, Mazda Australia CEO Vinesh Bhindi told EV Central.

“Any product the Mazda operation gets out we absolutely look at,” he said. “If history is anything to go by we have got most models that are produced by Mazda Corporation here.

“Our plan is always to have the choice available to the Australian consumers, so what was announced last week absolutely we will be in the queue to explore; what it is, is it relevant and does the business case stack up?

“We hope to take them all.”

Australia is one of the most successful markets for Mazda globally. It currently sits second here in the sales race, behind Toyota, with a 10.6 percent share of sales.

Mazda Australia year-on-year, sales are up 63.9 per cent, which is a notable effort even considering 2020’s COVID-driven sales downturn.

That significant share of global voice within the corporation gives Mazda Australia a better shot at obtaining the models it wants, the company’s marketing director Alastair Doak said.

“We are a successful market, our going-in proposition is ‘why wouldn’t we take it?’, rather than ‘why would we?’

“When you go in with that it’s a different conversation all the way through.

“That’s why we probably have the broadest product line-up of any mature Mazda market.”

Mazda has given little product detail away about its electrification plans. It has confirmed it will tap into Toyota technology for its hybrid technology and it’s expected to share the Toyota e-TNGA EV architecture underneath the Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra.

The next electrified Mazda model likely to come Australia’s way is the plug-in rotary range extender version of the MX-30, which is actively under consideration and could be here as soon as 2022.

Bhindi made it clear Mazda Australia wanted the federal government to step in and set a national plan to encourage EV adoption, rather than state governments introducing separate incentive schemes as NSW and Victoria have recently done.

“What we would like to see is a common plan for all Australians,” he said. “In that plan I would like to see more renewable energy investment; the infrastructure, the generation of energy.

“The subsidy part of it [support of EV adoption] is temporary and finite, that’s not as important. The important thing is they take a common approach with all states and territories and have the support for investment in renewable energy.”

While Mazda is ramping up its electrified activities, it is not stepping away from internal combustion engines as some other brands including Audi and Jaguar have announced.

Its Sustainable Zoom-Zoom 2030 roadmap also details a new rear- and all-wheel drive monocoque architecture that will support new-generation inline six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.

Vehicles from the CX-5 SUV up – which means the likes of the CX-8, CX-9, Mazda6 and as yet unspecified new models – will all use this new generation technology, Mazda has confirmed. And they will come to Australia.

“Mazda believes globally not every country will suddenly wake up one morning and say ‘it’s all EV’,” explained Bhindi. “Different markets will be in a different position.

“The thinking is there will be certain technologies that suit certain markets depending on consumer mindset, the infrastructure that’s available, the resources that are available.

“So all of these technologies have a place for some time yet.

“A hard target of 2025 or 2030 is only in certain markets not everywhere.

“In Australia we think the internal combustion engine will be in demand for some time yet, so we have that technology available to us.”