After being interviewed by the media at the Beijing Auto Show on April 25, Katsuhiro Maolong, president of Mazda Motor Co., Ltd., did not leave immediately, but invited every Chinese reporter who participated in the interview to take a group photo with him. Katsuhiro deliberately chose the position of the group photo in the center of the Mazda booth, where a MAZDA EZ-6 electric sedan was placed, and the screen behind it read "Changan Mazda New Energy Vehicle World Premiere".
Regarding the "Chinese market" and "new energy vehicles", Maolong Katsuhiro has continued to show his attention to these two aspects through various occasions in the past 10 months. Back in June 2023, on his first day as president of Mazda Motor Co., Ltd., Katsuhiro traveled to China to meet with the management of Changan Mazda, a joint venture in China, to discuss how Mazda can catch up with the development of China's electric vehicle market.
At present, many multinational car companies attach great importance to China's new energy vehicle market, but it is rare for Mazda to show a positive attitude towards new energy vehicles. On the one hand, the Chinese market is not the largest part of Mazda's global sales map, and the proportion of sales in the Chinese market in 2023 is not as large as that of North America, Japan and Europe.
Katsuhiro's attitude towards the Chinese market is related to Mazda's new judgment on the future. Mazda has set a preliminary 25% to 40% share of global EV sales by 2030. To achieve this, the Chinese market will be a top priority.
"As you know, in addition to the Chinese market, the development trend of electric vehicles in some other countries is gradually slowing down. China is different from other markets in the world, and electrification is developing very rapidly. Mao Lang Shenghong told the Economic Observer Network and other media.
R&D "Long Horse Matching"
Mazda will take the lead in electrification by relying on its joint venture Changan Mazda in China. In the past, Chinese joint ventures, including Changan Mazda, were more strategic than product-oriented, with the models of the joint ventures coming from mature products from foreign shareholders, and the Chinese shareholders were mainly involved in marketing and other work. That has now been reversed.
Katsuhiro said that in the era of electrification, the biggest issue in Mazda's global business is how to determine the speed of electrification in different countries around the world. Mazda's strategy is to take targeted measures according to the pace of demand for electric vehicles in each country.
According to Mazda's previously announced plan, its electrification transformation is divided into three phases: from 2022 to 2024, it will strengthen its development for the electrification era, from 2025 to 2027, it will strengthen the development of battery technology and will launch pure electric models in the Chinese market first, and from 2028 to 2030, it will officially introduce pure electric vehicles and transition to the electrification era.
As a multinational automaker that needs to coordinate different markets around the world, it is a pragmatic choice for Mazda to deepen R&D cooperation with a local partner such as Changan Automobile with limited resources.
"In the future, the cooperation between Mazda and Changan will combine the advantages of both parties, including Changan's advanced electrification technology, Mazda's 'soul of motion' design and the joy of handling 'people and horses', to create new value for the future electric vehicle era. Mazda Motor Co., Ltd. Executive Executive Director Hirohiro Aoyama said.
At the 2024 Beijing Motor Show, Changan Mazda's first electric sedan, the MAZDA EZ-6, made its world debut, which is the first electric model based on the pure electric digital platform in the joint venture brand, and is also the successor of Mazda's classic model MAZDA 6 in the electric era.
Katsuhiro revealed that during the development of the MAZDAEZ-6, Changan Automobile and Mazda each sent dozens of senior developers, and Changan Mazda itself also has a group of technicians with more than ten years of development experience. After the MAZDA EZ-6, Mazda will have second, third, and fourth similar new models to be launched in the Chinese market.
Will not give up "human and horse as one"
Over the past few decades, Mazda has regarded driving pleasure as one of the brand's most important strengths, with sedan models being the most controllable. However, in terms of sales, SUVs are the hottest models in China's new energy vehicle market at the moment.
Katsuhiro is also aware of this, saying, "The Chinese SUV segment is very popular, so [Mazda] wants to launch an SUV for the second model. The MAZDA ARATA Concept, which was shown today (at the show), is the second electric SUV model we are considering. In the future, its production styling will be closer to today's concept model, and it will be launched on the market in 2025. ”
It is worth noting that the drive mode of electric vehicles is different from that of fuel vehicles, and how Mazda will integrate the concept of "integration of people and horses" into electric vehicles is also a big issue. In this regard, Yudai Aoyama said, "No matter what the era, Mazda will continue it (the concept of 'people and horses as one') to provide users with driving pleasure. ”
Aoyama further said that Mazda's developers have a lot of experience in "making the dynamic performance of the car conform to the driver's wishes", and Mazda has done a lot of research on this, and will strive to achieve the "integration of people and horses" in the electric era based on the characteristics of battery drive.
In addition to adhering to the principle of "integration of people and horses", Mazda hopes to continue its internal combustion engine technology accumulation in the electrification transformation. "Mazda has a proven track record of high efficiency in the internal combustion engine, and we continue to develop internal combustion engine technology, as well as research into hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and extended-range electric technologies using rotary engines. Katsuhiro said.
At present, China's new energy vehicle market is showing a trend of faster growth of hybrid models than pure electric models, which gives Mazda the confidence to continue to leverage its internal combustion engine technology. Katsuhiro said that the development of the pure electric vehicle market in the United States and some other countries is declining or slowing down. Correspondingly, the demand for hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicles in these markets is growing, and Mazda will provide them with products equipped with the corresponding technology.