Automotive News Europe - June 2019 - 10

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

Q&A

QA Emissions mission
Mazda CEO Marumoto counts on new engine, EVs to reach EU CO2 goal

azda CEO Akira Marumoto is leading
an electrification push that should
help the Japanese automaker slash its
CO2 footprint and avoid paying big fines
in Europe. A recently announced emissions-pooling deal with Toyota will also
help. In addition, Mazda is working with
Toyota on electrification technologies,
but Marumoto says "unique" engines will
remain part of his brand's identity. He discussed the challenges Mazda faces with
Automotive News Europe Correspondent
Andrea Malan.

Will Mazda manage to hit the target in
2020 and 2021? How will it do that?
First, the Skyactiv-X engine we are launching this year emits less than 100g/km of
CO2. [The Skyactiv-X uses a technology
called spark-controlled compression ignition, which Mazda says combines the best
traits of diesel and gasoline engines.] Second, the first Mazda battery-electric vehicle will hit the market next year. Finally,
we will introduce plug-in hybrid models
from 2021 or 2022. So we will eventually
achieve the target, although we will have
some difficulties in 2020.
If you see next year that Mazda will
not be able to hit the CO2 target, will
you pay the fines or will you curtail
sales of the higher-emission vehicles?
We will have to balance the impact of
possible CO2 penalties with our sales
targets. But we also have to consider the
sustainability of our dealer network.

www.autonewseurope.com

❚ NAME:

Akira Marumoto

❚ TITLE: Mazda

President and CEO

❚ AGE: 61
❚ MAIN CHALLENGES:

Successfully launching the new Skyactiv-X
engine; complying
with tougher European
CO2 targets that take
full effect in 2021.

Photo: Bloomberg

One of Mazda's main challenges in Europe is to meet tougher CO2 emissions
targets. JATO Dynamics estimates that
Mazda's 2018 CO2 level was 135.2
grams per kilometer, and the fleet total needs to be 95g/km by 2021. Why
is Mazda so far from the target?
There are two reasons why our emissions
are above 130g/km. First, our best-selling model is the CX-5 midsize SUV. Second, the diesel mix of our smaller models,
the Mazda2 and Mazda3, has been diminishing. That is why we are quite far from
what we planned five years ago.

Meet the boss

When will we drive a car with the Skyactiv-X engine?
That will happen within this calendar year.
The decline in diesel sales had a negative effect on the CO2 balance. What
is your opinion about the future of diesel in Europe? Will the diesel penetration level stabilize?
Diesel share in small and compact vehicles will suffer more declines, while I
believe for SUVs such as the CX-5 it will
stabilize. Look at the big three German
automakers. They are introducing electric
vehicles but at the same time working on
the development of new diesel engines.
We believe for SUVs and large sedans,
the most efficient powertrain will be a
diesel coupled with an electric motor.
Will the joint work Mazda is doing with
Toyota help you reach the even strict-

er 2025 and 2030 CO2 targets? When
will the first results of this cooperation come to the market?
We do not develop any engines with
Toyota. Mazda is a small company, so we
have to focus on our uniqueness, and I
believe our engines are very unique. If we
share our engines with other companies,
that would dilute our uniqueness. Therefore, we have no plans to do so. We are
jointly developing a new EV architecture
with Toyota, but we will first introduce our
own EV on a Mazda architecture in 2020.
What effect will Skyactiv-X engines
have on Mazda's sales in the midterm?
Customers will decide. We have the
manufacturing flexibility to produce all
the different types of engines on the
same line. The Skyactiv-X engine has
a number of advantages, but we don't

JUNE 2019

http://www.autonewseurope.com

Automotive News Europe - June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Europe - June 2019