Mazda announced today that it will be reorganizing in the coming months to focus on the development of electric vehicles. The company will be creating a new department specifically dedicated to developing EVs, according to Left Lane News.
Currently, Mazda’s only hybrid offering is the Tribute, which is based on Ford’s Escape. Without a hybrid of its own, Mazda is way behind the times, so this is not unexpected.
Hopefully Mazda doesn’t fund the new EV department by relocating money from the Mazdaspeed program. As far as I’m concerned, the Mazdaspeed program has to last at least long enough for them to finally stick the turbo engine from the Mazdaspeed 3 into the Miata, which for the record, they should have done years ago.
Mazda shouldn’t have much trouble meeting the 2012 CAFE standards, so there isn’t any reason to believe they’ll scrap their high performance division. Still, it’s hard not to assume the worst with the way things have been going lately in the auto world.
