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Mazda will start selling its first sedan EV in China and Europe this year, but there are currently no plans for a U.S. launch.
Japanese carmaker Mazda has announced the EZ-6 will be its first fully-electric sedan available globally. The electric sedan by Changan Mazda will be available starting “the fall of 2024,” firstly in China and Europe, though Mazda does not offer any clear signs of availability in North America.
The Mazda EZ-6 recently began rolling off the assembly line, the company said in a press note. It was previously showcased at the 2024 Beijing International Motor Show in April, where the company only announced plans to launch the vehicle in China by the end of the year. At the time, Mazda claimed a range of 600km (roughly 373 miles) on the fully electric variant.
The EZ-6 is born out of Mazda’s joint venture with the Chinese state-owned carmaker Changan, which is responsible for the drivetrain while Mazda takes care of the styling. As a result, we see elements of both — a successor to the Mazda6 with an internal combustion engine and Changan’s Deepal SL03 electric saloon.
Though Mazda did not confirm the specifics of the engines powering the EZ-6, it is expected to adopt the same engines as the SL03 sold in China. This includes a battery-powered electric vehicle (BEV) and a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) that uses a 1.5-liter naturally aspirated combustion engine as a range extender. In addition to the full electric model, Mazda confirmed the EZ-6 would also come in a PHEV variant with a claimed range of 1,000km (~621 miles).
Though Mazda claims the EZ-6 to be a “truly global model,” lack of information around the U.S. availability is evidently backed by previously failed attempts. Notably, Mazda sold its first EV, the MX-30 crossover SUV, in the U.S. briefly between 2021 and 2023. Though it reasoned that its strategy was to focus on the PHEVs, including the 2024 CX-90 and the 2025 CX-70, the exact basis appears to be the electric’s poor sales. The company manages to sell less than 500 units in the U.S. in 2022 and 2023 combined, making it one of the least sold models.
With the EV market in the U.S. experiencing a slowdown, Mazda could use the sales in Europe to study responses. Whether it simply delays the launch in the U.S. or skips it entirely is unknown at this point.
