Mazda has hatched a plan to boost its investment in electric vehicles (EV) by almost £9 billion after forecasting that sales could be significantly more than previously expected.

The Japanese carmaker’s investments will ramp-up with the help of new joint venture MHHO Electric Drive to develop electric drive units, Mazda Imasen Electric Drive to develop inverters and MCF Electric Drive to develop EV motors.

In a presentation today (November 22), Mazda chief executive Akira Marumoto revealed the renewed focus was required after an upgrade of the brand’s projected EV sales to closer to up as much as 40% of its global production by 2030 – up from a previous estimate of 25%.

Marumoto suggested that between 60% and 75% of the global market will still require an internal combustion engine (ICE), but revealed that Mazda now had a three-phase road to “fully-fledged electrification”.

Phase one – to 2024 – will see the OEM strengthen its technology development in R&D and manufacturing in preparation for electrification while putting Mazda’s business on a growth path and strengthening its financial base to “enable us to deal with another economic crisis like the coronavirus pandemic, with cash on hand”.