Mazda Motor Corporation and Chinese partner Changan Automobile will invest RMB 10 billion ($1.4 billion) for the development of smart and electric vehicles in China by 2027, an executive said recently, adding that their joint venture aims to become a leader in a highly competitive industry. Changan-Mazda will launch a new electric vehicle model each year from 2024 to 2027, hoping to triple their annual sales to 300,000 units by 2027, of which 90% will be new energy vehicles (all-electrics and plug-in hybrids), said deputy president Deng Zhitao on Sept. 28. Mazda’s China JV has already begun selling its first EV sedan, the EZ-6, offering seven all-electric and extended-range hybrid variants with a pre-sale price that starts from RMB 160,000. Sales of Changan-Mazda almost halved to 4,331 units in August from a year earlier, while Japanese brands claimed 12.6% of the Chinese passenger car market, down 4.2% year-on-year, according to figures published by the China Passenger Car Association. [TechNode reporting, Nikkei, in Japanese]Related