Mazda Teases New Concept Model Amidst Changes to its EV Plans

The electrification of automobiles sees many carmakers worldwide jumping the gun to become full-fledged EV manufacturers in the name of survival. Unlike its fierce South Korean rivals, electrification amongst Japanese marques isn’t as rapid, with brands like Toyota still opting for hybrid or alternate fuel configurations still.

Fortunately (or not), things are changing. Mazda has announced a revision in its future strategies regarding efforts towards electrification and carbon neutrality. This announcement came during Mazda’s mid-term management plan update and new management policy for this decade. However ambitious Mazda’s future plan is, the limelight of the show was actually stolen by the teaser of a brand-new concept car, dubbed as the ‘Vision Study Model’.

The ‘Vision Study Model’ teased in a special video presentation, albeit only for split seconds, shows what appears to be a sporty two-door sports coupe featuring ‘pop-up’ headlights, side-view cameras as well as butterfly doors.

Said concept’s teaser came after a brief historical timeline of Mazda’s iconic roadster, the MX-5 Miata, spanning from its first-gen model up to the current ND model. This indicates that the new ‘Vision Study Model’ might be a future replacement for the storied roadster, in spite of it being teased with a fixed roof coupe configuration.

Throughout the Miata’s historic run, Mazda had actually built a special hard-top, non-convertible coupe for the second-gen NB model, of which just 179 were produced. In other words, it is possible that the teased concept coupe might actually be the next-gen Miata.

Coming back to Mazda’s future plans presentation, the Japanese marque aims to adopt electrification by 2030, targeting Mazda’s EV ratio in global sales to rise about 25% to 40% by the end of the decade. A total of US$10.6 billion (approx. RM48.4 billion) will be invested by Mazda for its future EV plans, with the marque already signing joint development deals with numerous EV components manufacturers to spur development of Mazda’s proprietary electrified powertrain systems.

Furthermore, Mazda also plans to curb fatal accidents involving its vehicles by 2040, thus prompting the brand to invest towards improving advanced driver’s assistant (ADAS) technologies and other safety features.

In-line with Mazda’s plan for electrification, the presentation also sees Mazda planning to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In preparation for this huge goal, Mazda has set an interim target of making its manufacturing plants worldwide to be carbon neutral by 2035.

With the new ‘Vision Study Model’ concept coupe teased, the question now is will it be fully-electric or retain a traditional ICE setup? Previous reports suggest that Mazda insisted on keeping the rear-wheel drive (RWD) and ICE combo for the next-gen Miata. This now remains to be seen.

Besides that, the marque also announced the comeback of its proprietary Wankel rotary mill for the upcoming MX-30 crossover in 2023, though it will serve as a range extender instead in said electric crossover.