Mazda only made one electric car for the US market, the MX-30 compact, and it was a minor hit. Only 100 MX-30s were sold in the US from January to August 2023, which is 69% less than the previous year. But Nikkei Asia says Mazda could come back with electric vehicles in the US as early as 2025. This shows that the Japanese car company isn’t giving up. Mazda hasn’t said what kind of electric vehicles it will sell first, but it is thought that they will be built on current car frames and will most likely be SUVs. “Given the high costs of making cars, it’s hard to make money by making small EVs,” Mazda CEO Masahiro Moro said not long ago. “We are looking at a segment that will appeal to would-be EV buyers.” Mazda must make SUVs to entice American electric vehicle buyers. The next Mazda EVs will not be able to get the $7,500 federal tax credits in the United States, no matter how they look. Under the new rules from the Inflation Reduction Act, EVs must be fully assembled in North America to be eligible for the tax credit. Instead, the next group of electric cars will be made at Mazda’s plant in Hofu, Japan. Due to the lack of a tax incentive, Mazda may sell fewer cars in the future than its local competitors, whose customers will get tax breaks. Many of its rivals, like General Motors, Volkswagen, and Honda (which, it should be noted, uses GM’s Ultium platform), are switching to all-electric platforms. This makes Tesla’s choice to keep its next EVs on platforms already used for gasoline cars all the more enjoyable. Dedicated electric platforms usually have less weight, more space, and the freedom to create more exciting and efficient shapes. In 2018, Mazda’s EV sales made up only 1% of its overall sales worldwide. In the US, those numbers will need to go up. The United States is Mazda’s biggest market, making up about 30% of all sales worldwide. The company thinks EV sales will make up at least 25%. Mazda will need to make an EV with more than 100 miles range if it wants Americans to buy them.
