¥1.5 Trillion Electrification Catch Up Plan

Mazda set to play catch up at a cost of 1.5 Trillion Yen ($10.8B), the investment is aimed at catching rivals in the race for new electrification technologies & could include EV production in the U.S. The investment will be spent on a string of new partnerships, targeting everything from batteries & motors to computer chips in the race for new technologies. With this we could see EV production in the U.S. as early as 2026-2027. Mazda’s senior managing executive officer Akira Koga said the investment would be made along with its “partners”, without elaborating, and will be used for research and development. The news was first reported by the Nikkei business daily. The ratio of electric vehicles (EVs) in global sales is expected to rise to between 25% and 40% as of 2030, from 25% previously, the company said in a statement. Mazda CEO Akira Marumoto also told a news conference that the company had reached an agreement with Envision AESC, the battery business of Chinese renewable energy group Envision, to procure batteries for EVs produced in Japan.