Mazda says it will continue to offer what the Australian consumers are looking to buy, regardless of the penalties it may cop under new emissions standards locally.
The Australian Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard comes into effect on January 1, 2025, with penalties applying from July 1, 2025 for companies that exceed their CO2 emissions target.
Speaking to CarExpert at the launch of the new CX-80, Mazda Australia boss Vinesh Bhindi said the company is here to serve the needs of its customers first and foremost.
“In our case, we will still offer what the market wants, what the consumer wants, despite what the implications are of fines, etc, because in the end, we’re here to serve our consumers,” Mr Bhindi said.
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Mazda has already outlined its powertrain plans for the foreseeable future, which sees the company add a range of new electrified options while also keeping its petrol and diesel powertrains.
The move to not ditch internal-combustion technology has proven shrewd, with numerous other manufacturers having recently walked back their ambitious goals of going electric-only in the next few years.
While Mazda hasn’t set an end date for combustion-powered vehicles, it has announced plans to roll out new electric vehicles (EVs).
Despite this, late last year it axed its only EV in Australia, the MX-30. It has yet to confirm when it’ll launch another EV here, though it’s expanding its range of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) which will also help it meet CO2 targets under the NVES.
“The consumer may be looking for more electrified powertrains, whether it’s full battery-electric or hybrids or plug-in hybrids or mild hybrids,” said Mr Bhindi.
“We will make sure that our business plan puts forward those electrified powertrains as an appealing, compelling proposition.”
Mazda massively outperforms in the Australian market compared to the rest of the world, with Australia being the brand’s fourth largest market globally with around 100,000 sales annually.
Mr Bhindi believes that with the current economic challenges, the new market has cooled off and stabilised to normal levels again, but nevertheless he’s confident of Mazda reaching around 100,000 sales in 2024 to keep pace with 2023.
“Like every industry, it goes through a cycle of high demand, high spend, and then comes back to adjusting to a level of normality,” he said.
“When you read all the macroeconomic stuff about inflation, interest rates, cost of living, all of that has a bearing on our industry like it does on many other industries.
“Some experts advised their forecast at the start of this year to say the true demand in terms of fresh orders would be around the 1 million to 1.1 million [mark], there are some pundits calling record 1.2 million deliveries.
“But as you can see, as the order banks come off, it’s starting to head towards the 1.1 million. We’ll probably be around 100,000 similar to last year.”
Mazda currently offers a wide range of SUVs for the Australian market, with the new CX-80 set to arrive in November.
