Mazda has vowed to focus on customers, not the incoming government-mandated efficiency standards, but admits it has plans for more hybrids and electric vehicles before the end of the decade.
With the New Vehicle Efficiency Standards (NVES) coming into effect on January 1 of this year, Mazda and other brands are now required to meet an average emissions target for their fleet of models sold in Australia or face financial penalties. However, the car industry has negotiated some leeway, with higher targets for 2025 and ‘26 and fines only applicable from July 1.
The introduction of NVES is meant to push car makers to offer more fuel-efficient models to customers but with a clear incentive to offer electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid powertrains.
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Despite the government’s prerogative for more EVs, Mazda currently has now electric cars in its showrooms and no confirmed plans to re-introduce one in the immediate future. Instead the brand’s local boss, managing director Vinesh Bhindi, says customer preference will come first and the company will worry about complying with the NVES targets after.
“ So, this efficiency standard, I suppose you can look at it from a couple of points of view,” Bhindi told CarsGuide. “One point-of-view is, do you comply to a standard? Or alternatively, which is where our position is, provide customers what they want. And that's where we're going to focus.
“The compliance of the efficiency standard. Yes, we look at and yes, we map out our pathway on how in the end we have to reduce CO2 or carbon - that's the ultimate objective. Compliance off it is a pathway there. So our focus at this stage is the customer will decide what technology they want. The customer will decide how quickly they would like to move to a different technology and we would like to continue to provide what the customer wants.
“Now there is a small but growing customer base as you have seen. It's stagnated a bit on battery EVs but there's a very clear trend on hybridization. We have in our portfolio plug-in hybrids, we have mid-hybrids, the next generation CX-5 will have full hybridization. So our plan is to continue to offer those technologies as the customer says ‘that's where I want to be.’ And we’ll have battery EVs as well, by the way.”
While other brands have made a clear and early move towards EVs, the slowing sales growth has seemingly justified Mazda Australia’s position not to dive into that market. Asked if the cooling off of EV interest had justified Mazda’s approach, Bhindi dismissed the notion and pointed out many other brands were driven by EV-centric regulations in Europe and China - two smaller markets for the brand.
“You [have to] remember some of these brands made decisions based on their home country requirements by regulation, mainly Europe, mainly China, where this technology is a lot more mandated, if I can say those words,” he said. “So they needed that technology for their customers in other regions.
“We look at it from an Australian point-of-view. Yes, there's a small percentage of customers who are early adopters of new technology. And yes, we currently don't have an exact offering for them, but it's only a matter of time.”
However, that doesn’t mean Mazda intends on ignoring the EV market and there are plans for more hybrids, plug-in hybrids and EVs by the end of the decade — even if Bhindi stopped short of confirming when Australians can expect these models.
“ Without naming which models, which cars and exact timing, we will have multiple battery EVs before the end of 2030,” he revealed. “Earlier, but I can't tell you when we'll have next generation CX-5 with hybrid and much more in terms of hybridization and plug-in hybrid technologies between now and the end of the decade.”
