The Mazda CX-3 will return in 2027, with four new joint venture BEVs to follow

It’s that time of the year when companies release their fiscal year reports, where they also let out little juicy tidbits on what they plan to do over the next few years. For Mazda, its current management policy for up to 2030 reveals that it will be reviving one of its volume seller nameplates, alongside developing and launching four joint venture-developed EVs.

Most notably, the automaker is already in motion for introducing the next-generation CX-3, with production plans already ongoing. The CX-3 will be built at the Auto Alliance Thailand Plant for the ASEAN and Japanese markets.

We may have already seen a preview of what it may look like, as the Vision X-Compact showed off how a next-generation compact hatchback would look under Mazda’s new design language, and if this does turn out to be the next-generation Mazda 2, then it’s easy to infer how the CX-3 will look.

More interestingly, Mazda plans to expand its joint venture-developed electric vehicles within a short timeframe. It’s not clear how soon these will come out, but knowing the pace at which China brings out model updates and refreshes, we could most likely be seeing them within the next four years.

There are already two Changan-developed battery electric vehicles being sold within the global market in the Mazda 6e/EZ-6 and the CX-6e/EZ-60, and Mazda plans to have a framework to make 200,000 to 250,000 BEVs part of its global sales by 2030.

The company has reallocated resources to strengthen its hybrid and large-platform offerings by investing in internal combustion engines, and to delay its in-house battery electric vehicle offerings to match market timings, much like how Honda has recently gone all-in with its hybrid offerings.

READ: Honda showcases its hybrid-centric automotive business plan with two new concept cars

This falls in line with the development of its Skyactiv-Z engine, which will feature an in-house hybrid system and is expected to feature in three new hybrid vehicles from 2028 to 2030, starting with the new hybrid CX-5 expected to launch next year. 

^{Photos by Sam Surla and Julian Panlilio}