Japan’s Mazda Motor announced its plans to make an investment of $10.6 billion to focus on electric vehicles (EV) business.
The company also raised its sales target for electric vehicles (EVs) to up to 40 percent of its total global sales by 2030. Its previous EV sales target was 25 percent by 2030.
“We will promote the full-fledged launch of battery EVs and consider investing in battery production. We estimate Mazda’s EV ratio in global sales to rise to a range between 25 percent and 40 percent as of 2030,” Mazda said in a statement.
Consulting firm Deloitte is expecting EV sales to make up about 32 percent of total new car sales globally by 2030, Reuters news report said.
Mazda, as part of a three-phase plan, said it would introduce battery-EV models in the latter half of phase 2 which it identified as the period between 2025 and 2027. It planned a full-scale launch of fully electric vehicles between 2028 and 2030.
Senior managing executive officer Akira Koga told reporters the 1.5 trillion yen ($10.6 billion) investment would be made along with its partners and would be used for research and development.
Koga declined to give a detailed investment timeline, adding it would depend on how fast EVs became popular.
Mazda CEO Akira Marumoto said the company will seek to introduce a new hybrid system and improve efficiency on internal combustion engine.
The automaker said it had agreed to work with seven companies, including electric-component maker Rohm, to jointly develop and produce electric drive units.
Company executives also said Mazda had reached a supply agreement with battery maker Envision AESC for a limited period between 2025 and 2027.
Mazda is aiming for about 4.5 trillion yen in net sales for the business year ending March 2026, a jump of about 45 percent from the financial year ending March 2022.
Deloitte expects total EV sales to reach 31.1 million by 2030, up from an expected 11.2 million in 2025 and 2.5 million in 2020.
Mazda has agreed to work with a number of tech companies, signing agreement with Imasen Electric Industrial, Ondo Corporation, Chuo Kaseihin, Hiroshima Aluminum Industry, HIROTEC Corporation, Fukuta Electric & Machinery, and ROHM.