Despite being a relative niche player in the global automotive scene, Mazda understands that flexibility—whether it be product or production—is key to help them respond to diversifying customer needs and environmental regulations globally.

Mazda is confident that the added complexity of developing both a line of conventional and BEV vehicles can be done with the same manpower and resources thanks to bundled planning products and technologies.

Development and production teams will closely work together to design and engineer a common architecture allowing them to respond quickly to changing customer preferences. In addition, the carmaker will use a mixed-production method at their current manufacturing facilities.

On the combustion engine side, Mazda is set to introduce Skyactiv-Z which will become the core powerplant in its electrified vehicle (HEV, PHEV) offerings. The brand says it will achieve “close to the ultimate combustion” achieving both high levels of fuel efficiency and driving performance.

It will debut in the next-generation Mazda CX-5 which will be used in combination with a proprietary hybrid system. This is expected to happen before the end of 2027.

Furthermore, Mazda has plans to roll out Skyactiv-Z to its inline-6 engines for its Large Product group. It will also be utilized in the development of its rotary engine.

As Skyactiv-Z is rolled out, Mazda has plans to reduce the number of engine variations it offers to less than half of current numbers. Control-related software will also be consolidated to two-thirds compared to its current figure.

When it comes to BEVs, Mazda is on track with its EV-dedicated platform which will continue to deliver the brand’s signature “fun-to-drive” experience. Set to be launched in 2027 as well, it will use in-house developed electric motors and battery systems.

Unlike other carmakers which had to set up dedicated production lines for EVs, Mazda will utilize existing manufacturing assets to produce both battery electric vehicle sand conventional gas-powered vehicles side by side. The “Rootless Production” method will have the carmaker using Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs).

Instead of using fixed conveyors rooted in pits or hangers that dangle from lines along the ceilings, the new technique uses flat palette platforms that skate along dolly rollers.

The platforms are big enough to support the whole vehicle and have floors flush with their surroundings. Workers can easily walk about the cars and work on them from any angle without having to dodge hangers or step over conveyors. The palettes also can be crammed together closer in the line, meaning that work processes can be combined and the line length trimmed.

When the platform comes to the end of a line and needs to do a U-turn, the palette simply slides to the side along the dolly. There is no need for robots to transfer the car, and the system allows Mazda to extend a line by just adding sections of rollers when demand increases.

Where it used to take Mazda six weeks to extend a line, it can now be done in only seven days.

Another advantage is that it allows flexibility for making EVs on the same line as those with internal combustion engines. Before, a fixed line would lift engines, suspensions, or transmissions into a vehicle’s bodies at set spacings. Now, those component systems are delivered to the line by fleets of AGVs.

The AGVs zoom up under the vehicle body and align themselves perfectly for whatever kind of vehicle they are trying to build—with one AGV handling the front, another AGV the back.

This allows Mazda to flexibly accommodate any combination of long or short vehicles on the same line, with any number of powertrain variants, including all-electric, hybrid, or conventional, in front, rear-, or all-wheel drive.

Overall, the Lean Asset Strategy will allow Mazda to reduce its capital investment by 85 percent and the time for mass production preparation by 80 percent compared to building a new factory dedicated to battery EVs.