Mazda has announced that it is independently developing a new electric vehicle (EV) based on the company’s popular Mazda2 sub-compact. The company plans to have the vehicle rolling in the first half of 2012 and will commence leasing it to local government bodies and fleet customers in Japan. With the Mazda2 being built in Thailand for the ASEAN market we could well see this car in Bermaz showrooms in 2 years time.
The new car will have a range of roughly 200 km and will form a part of Mazda’s Building Block strategy, which prioritizes the development of more efficient engines and transmissions and also focuses on weight reduction. The company also plans an accelerated introduction of hybrid systems and technologies such as brake-energy regeneration as part of its SKYACTIV programme in the near future.
