Mazda not ruling Chinese-built electric cars to bolster Australian line-up: 'We're not shy on getting products that could be available to us'

The head of Mazda Australia said he’s open to opportunities regarding products to bolster the brand’s local line-up, not ruling out the possibility of bringing electric cars made in China to Australia.

Mazda Australia Managing Director Vinesh Bhindi, said Mazda will sell EVs, conventional and plug-in hybrids, mild hybrids and combustion options by the end of this decade.

Mazda’s presence in Australia is much more prominent than in most global markets, but given Australia’s policies on new car emissions and efficiency are still catching up to developed markets like the US and Europe, has it been less important for the brand to develop electrified vehicles?

Bhindi said it’s not a case of Australia’s policy being different, but the market’s propensity (or lack of) towards EVs.

“In other markets, the acceleration towards this hasn't been immediate in the majority of them. Some countries yes, some states yeah, and I think in Australia, we're seeing similar pathways,” Bhindi told CarsGuide.

“You know, if you look at sales in ACT, that's a higher proportion of EVs in particular, but they have a lot of public servants there. There's a lot of government departments there.

“But in other parts of Australia, it's going to be a transition, and it'll slowly grow. At some point the scales… there will be a tipping point, but it's a transition in the end.

“Now for us, we will have BEVs, we will have plug-in hybrid, we will have hybrid, we will have mild hybrids and we will have pure ICE as options available for customers within or before the end of this decade,” he said.

Most global Mazda products remain petrol-powered cars, with the brand’s most forward-facing electric and hybrid cars being built in China for the Chinese market.

When asked if one recently revealed Chinese-built Mazda EV, the EZ-6 sedan, which seems intended as an electric replacement to the Mazda 6, could make its way to Australia eventually, Bhindi corrected the rumour that the model might make its way out of the Chinese market.

“So in particular, that product, it's for China. It's built in China for the Chinese market,” he said.

In terms of the hypothetical possibility that other cars like it from China could be an answer to meeting the demand for electric cars in Australia, he didn’t rule it out.

“When you look at how Mazda Australia has operated, we've got the broadest range of products from the Mazda portfolio. So we're not shy on getting products that could be available to us.

“We're always open to opportunities, but at the moment, that product in particular is for one market only.”

Mazda Australia has put its money (and its resources) where its mouth is when it comes to offering customers just about every choice it reasonably can. Australia is the only major market in the world where Mazda offers all four of its new Large Platform models: the CX-60, -70, -80 and -90.

These models achieve Mazda's mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid goals, but traditional hybrids and EVs are yet to join the range.

The next generation of CX-5 is slated to use a Mazda-developed hybrid, with Marketing Director Alastair Doak telling CarsGuide recently "there will be a Mazda hybrid system coming for that car".

There's also the possibility the Mazda Arata concept could become a Tesla Model Y rival called the Mazda CX-6e.

It remains to be seen whether China will have a hand in the answer to the EV gap in the brand’s powertrain offering over the next few years.