The Japanese carmaker’s commitment to the internal combustion engine will have them develop their own in-house strong hybrid system which will slot between the company’s current Mazda M Hybrid (mild hybrid) and Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) offerings. This new engine will mate a “clean-burning, efficient gasoline engine” with an electric motor.

The target, according to Naohito Saga, Mazda’s Executive Officer of R&D Strategy, is to deploy them on several engine configurations, but focusing on smaller vehicles which stand to benefit on the technology more; larger vehicles will have the PHEV powertrain.

One vehicle that could benefit from the new full-hybrid technology is the next-generation CX-5 which is due in 2026.

The announcement comes at the Japanese market launch for the all-new CX-80—a three-row SUV that’s essentially a stretched CX-60 made for markets which require a narrower full-sized SUV such as Europe, Japan, and Australia.

The CX-80 essentially uses the same engines used in the CX-60, but for the Japanese market, they are offering the 3.3-liter Skyactiv-D diesel engine with no electric assist. This engine makes 231 horsepower and 500 Nm compared to the electrified version that puts out a combined 254 horsepower and 550 Nm.

The CX-80 is the last member of Mazda’s Large Product Group which includes the CX-60, CX-70, and CX-90. Mazda is targeting 200,000 vehicles in combined global sales for those three nameplates in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. So far, the CX-90 is the series’ bestseller, by far, with global deliveries of 43,962 through August this year.

Meanwhile, retail sales for the hybrid CX-50 will also start in markets such as the United States, but this one uses a Toyota-sourced powertrain and system.

Currently, Mazda’s global sales is 24 percent electrified. Electrified powertrains make up 85 percent of their sales in Europe, but just 22 percent in the United States and Japan.