Mazda is assuring business drivers of an efficient future with seven new models over the next four years, all using the brand’s new CO2-cutting Skyactive technology. The new models will join the CX-5 small SUV that went on-sale earlier this year, taking the total number of Skyactive cars to eight by 2016.
At the Moscow motor show, where the new Mazda 6 was given its global debut, Takashi Yamanouchi, global chief executive officer, disclosed that “This year 30% of our sales will be Skyactive sales. By March 2016, that will be 80%. So there are six more, four of which will be replacement models and ‘some’ newcomers.”
Read also: Faulty tyre pressure ignites new Mazda6 recall
While the four replacement models cover most of the car range, including the 2, 3, 5 and MX-5, Yamanouchi remained tight-lipped about exactly what the two new models would be. He added: “We can’t cover all segments. We’ve defined the B, C and D segments as our battlefield. But we can still try and provide a good complement of SUVs and others within that.”
Yamanouchi said the Mazda 6 would be the firm’s flagship model and would be both the brands largest and most technically advanced car. Looking further ahead, he believes the vast majority of future car sales will continue to be powered by increasingly efficient petrol and diesel engines, with only a very small number of purely electric cars being bought.
He did also reveal that Mazda is developing an EV with a range-extender: “In Japan only, we will launch an EV range-extender with a rotary engine. There are two problems with EVs: the battery cost and the range. But with fuel – petrol or hydrogen – you can extend this.
