Mazda's new electric car is breaking out of China: BYD Seal and Tesla Model 3 rivalling 2025 Mazda EZ-6 electric sedan will become a global model that will go on sale in Europe in months

Mazda’s newest EV is breaking out of China and is going global.

The Japanese brand has reportedly confirmed the EZ-6 will become a global model and will be available in China and Europe from northern hemisphere autumn.

The EZ-6 was first shown at the 2024 Beijing motor show and is being built by Mazda’s joint venture with Chinese firm Changan. It was initially only slated to go on sale in China.

At its reveal, Mazda said there will be a choice of a pure electric model with 600km driving range, or a plug-in hybrid capable of 1000km. 

Experts from Mazda’s European research and development centre have completed dynamic performance tuning and validation on the EZ-6 in China.

Mazda Australia marketing boss Alastair Doak wouldn’t confirm if the vehicle would come to Australia and said he was unaware of any official announcement about the car going anywhere outside of China.

“At some point we’ll play seriously in that [EV] marketplace, but we are comfortable with the timelines that we have. I can’t explain exactly what those plans are, obviously,” said Doak.

“There’s lots of things happening, we’re pretty comfortable. At the moment, officially, those cars you’re talking about, as far as I’m aware, are only for the China market.”

Doak said the reveal of the EZ-6 and Arata electric SUV concepts at the Beijing motor show was exciting for Mazda as “nobody expected it from us”.

“People have been saying ‘Where are your BEVs? What are you doing?’ and that kind of stuff,” he said.

“So the fact that we have been out there and partnered with Changan in China to develop these cars and to bring them to market much quicker than anybody expected really shows the thinking that’s going on at Mazda and the ability to embrace new ideas and new collaborations to make sure that we have a product it portfolio that fits the future.”

When asked if Mazda Australia would eventually be on the receiving end of some of those new ideas in the form of electric cars, Doak said: “Oh absolutely, Australia remains one of the biggest global markets for Mazda. So of course, we’ll be part of those conversations.”

The announcement the car would branch out to Europe is a good sign that Australia could be in line for the vehicles in the future. 

It could also light the way for a production version of the Arata concept, which is a CX-5 sized EV, to land locally sometime in the future.

The federal government’s impending New Vehicle Efficiency Standard will mean car brand’s need to sell a big chunk of electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles to avoid penalties for selling higher polluting diesel and petrol models.

Mazda currently has zero electric cars on sale in Australia and has also zero confirmed EVs arriving. 

The CX-60 plug-in hybrid is the brand’s only full hybrid with a spattering of mild hybrid variants spread through other model ranges.