Japan’s Mazda Motor Corp announced plans to spend US$10.6 billion to develop electric vehicles as well as invest in battery production.
The company also raised its electric vehicle (EV) sales target to 40 percent of its total global sales by 2030. This increase in target was driven by intense competition in the electric vehicle sector and stricter environmental regulations.
The investment plan by Mazda follows similar announcements this year by domestic competitors such as Toyota and Honda, which have been criticized by environmental investors and environmental activists for being slow to electrify vehicles.
“We will promote the full launch of battery electric vehicles and consider investing in battery production. We estimate Mazda’s electric vehicle ratio in global sales will increase to a range of between 25 percent and 40 percent by 2030,” Mazda said in a statement as quoted by Reuters. November 23, 2022.
Mazda’s previous target of selling electric vehicles was 25 percent by 2030.
As part of the three-phase plan, Mazda said it will introduce a battery electric vehicle model in the “last half of phase 2” identified as the period between 2025 and 2027, 2028 and 2030, the company said.
Senior managing executive officer Akira Koga told reporters that the 1.5 trillion yen investment will be made jointly with partners and will be used for research and development. The news was first reported by the Nikkei business daily.
Even so, Mazda CEO Akira Marumoto said the company will work to introduce a new hybrid system and increase the efficiency of the internal combustion engine.
“We believe that a multi-solution approach will be effective,” he said.
The automaker said it has agreed to work with seven companies, including electric components maker Rohm Co, to jointly develop and manufacture electric drive units.
Company executives also said Mazda had reached a supply agreement with battery manufacturer Envision AESC for a limited period between 2025 and 2027.
“Apart from that, we want to develop a strategy for procuring and securing (batteries) in stages,” said Koga.
Envision AESC CEO Shoichi Matsumoto told Reuters last month his company was in talks with automakers in Japan, Europe, the United States and China for new supply deals.
Mazda is targeting net sales of around 4.5 trillion yen for the business year ending March 2026, a jump of about 45 percent from the fiscal year ending March 2022, the company said.
