It’s always fascinating to spend time in the company of Mazda, not least for its more nuanced view on the world and its way of doing things differently.
The latest example came at the Tokyo motor show (Japan Mobility Show) this week – easily the best motor show the world has had since the pandemic – where Mazda stood alone in not revealing a battery-electric vehicle but instead a rotary-powered electric range-extender in a concept that previews the Mazda MX-5 of the future.
Mazda CFO Jeff Guyton calls Mazda an “intentional follower” as a small car maker who sells in more than 130 markets, with different regulations for many of them.
When it has done EVs, it has of course done them differently, Mazda’s first EV being the Mazda MX-30 that intentionally had a smaller battery of 35kWh because Mazda felt that still provided the range people actually needed rather than what they wanted, the latter figure always higher. It has not been a commercial success and Mazda has since added a range-extender PHEV version - using a rotary, of course - to the MX-30’s line-up to boost its appeal.
“From a consumer standpoint, people often think that bigger is better, right?” Guyton told me in Japan. “The MX-30, I think, offers people a usable daily driving range. Doesn’t it make sense that if you have a 30-something kWh battery instead of a 100kWh battery, then three people can have those precious resources that are in that battery?
“Then we’ve got three drivers who are ostensibly driving carbon neutral instead of just one. It’s very logical and goes hand in hand with pragmatism in Japan.”
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