7 Consecutive Months as Sub-segment Sales Champion, Mazda EZ-60 Popular Overseas Too

【Intro】The market share of joint venture new energy vehicles has dropped to 4.5%. Mazda EZ-60, however, has won the sub-segment sales champion title for 7 consecutive months. This obsession with the essence of car-making leaves a tangible reference for a confused track.

The plight of joint venture new energy vehicles in the Chinese market is hardly an exaggeration to describe as "grim". Public data shows that in July 2026, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles from major joint venture brands was only 13.7%, with the market share shrinking to 4.5%. The entire joint venture camp was left far behind by independent brands on the new energy track. In this landscape that is almost one-sided, the existence of Mazda EZ-60 instead became a sample worth taking seriously.

An Undervalued "Consecutive Champion"

The fact most easily overlooked about EZ-60 is that since its launch in September 2025, it has consecutively won the sales champion title for joint venture new energy mid-size SUVs for 7 months.

At first glance, this title seems somewhat suspicious of "too many qualifiers". But qualifiers themselves have meaning. In the overall stalled dish of joint venture new energy, Mazda, a Japanese brand that was already "niche" in the fuel car era, was able to keep its new energy products consistently ahead in the most competitive sub-segment of mid-size SUVs. It cannot be said to have risen purely by luck; at least EZ-60 has a solid market foundation.

In July, EZ-60 ranked fifth on the joint venture new energy sales list, contributing a total of 5,515 units together with EZ-6. In August, EZ-60 had a single-month sales volume of 4,349 units, accounting for nearly half of the Mazda brand's total sales for the month.

To be honest, for a joint venture brand without a strong brand presence, this concentration exactly indicates that consumers buying Mazda new energy cars are not doing so entirely because of the "Mazda" three words, but because of the car "EZ-60" itself.

Where It Wins

The core reason EZ-60 can hold a place in joint venture new energy is likely not brand power. Mazda's brand premium is relatively limited in the Chinese market, and Mazda knows this better than anyone. To say its sales come from some "substantial things" provided by the product itself is not an exaggeration.

The combination of price and size has created a world of its own. It should be said that the pricing of EZ-60 is pinned in a subtle interval, lower than most joint venture new energy competitors, but it offers a mid-size SUV with a length of over 4.8 meters. For users with limited budgets, actual needs for space, and some trust inertia regarding brands, this combination is still very persuasive.

The feeling of driving is truly refreshing. Mazda's accumulation in chassis and handling is one of its few assets that was not washed away by the new energy wave. A car owner left a message on the forum after long-distance driving: "Drove over 1,000 kilometers on the highway, the pilot assist lane change and overtaking was very smooth. Plus seat massage, surprisingly no waist and back pain after getting out." Just think, this "coordination feel between intelligent driving commands and chassis execution" is indeed something many competitors who just stack specs cannot do well.

There are still some details on the service level that are quite a system. Some owners mentioned that the manufacturer has a specialist to add WeChat, the 4S stores have dedicated pre-sales and after-sales groups, and OTA upgrades will respond to demands in the owner groups. In an environment where joint venture brands are generally "standardized and cold" in service, that feeling of being valued naturally constitutes a differentiated experience. Being different means being different.

Not Just "Selling Well Domestically"

Many people may not know that EZ-60 has a dimension that is easily overlooked. Currently, it is the first domestic joint venture new energy model to obtain whole vehicle certification from the three major markets of the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Two months after launch in Europe, it secured 7,000+ orders, and more than 80 overseas dealerships traveled specially to the Nanjing factory for inspection.

What does this mean? It means the product standards for this car were not made only according to the "minimum requirements" of the Chinese market. Whole vehicle certification from the EU has always been known for its strictness, especially in safety, environmental protection, and electromagnetic compatibility, never compromising. And EZ-60, being able to pass the certification of these three places simultaneously, shows that its underlying quality is endorsed by global standards; you can't bring nonsense.

Undoubtedly, under the current public opinion environment where joint venture new energy is generally questioned for "downsizing specs" and "special supply", constituting a differentiated trust asset is not that easy, handily grasped. When consumers are struggling with "is joint venture electric car an IQ tax", "Global Car Standard" is at least an important reference that can be used as a basis for decision-making.

From "Made in China" to "Made for the World"

The export of EZ-60 is not simple whole vehicle trade. Behind it is a deeper strategic turn by Changan Mazda; the Nanjing factory is becoming the design, production, and export center for Mazda's global new energy.

In April 2025, Mazda Motor Corporation Chairman Katsuhiro Matsuro visited China twice within a month, witnessing the launch of Changan Mazda's first global model MAZDA 6E. In August of the same year, EZ-60 was officially launched at the Nanjing factory. The official explicitly defined it as the "second global model of the Changan Mazda new energy whole vehicle export center".

Lin Yan believes this is not a "globalization" on a rhetorical level, but a strategic positioning supported by specific production capacity and supply chain. The Nanjing factory has completed intelligent transformation, with an automation rate of 90%, and simultaneously accommodates the dual-platform production capacity of pure electric and extended range, integrating resources from top global suppliers such as Bosch and CATL. The factory has established a quality traceability system covering the entire industry chain. Before mass production, EZ-60 accumulated over 800 experimental vehicles with over 400 test items, actual vehicle testing mileage exceeding 3 million kilometers, and passed driving performance verification on roads in 8 European countries.

Worth mentioning is that the core logic of its "Double Hundred Doubles" strategy (i.e., double production scale and export quantity) lies in relying on China's complete new energy industry chain advantages to create products with global competitiveness, and then through the Nanjing factory, a hub platform integrating R&D, manufacturing, and export, feed back the technical results to the global market. In other words, it is a reversal of the traditional joint venture model. It is no longer the foreign party inputting technology and the Chinese party responsible for manufacturing, but Chinese R&D, Chinese Manufacturing, and Global Output.

EZ-6 has already launched in over 20 countries including Europe and Southeast Asia, with Europe orders breaking 7,000 units in two months. As a global model, EZ-60 will enter the European market under the naming CX-6E in the future. More than 80 overseas dealers from Europe, Australia, and Thailand flew specially to the Nanjing factory for on-site inspection, giving positive comments on craftsmanship and quality control. Dealers are people who buy goods with real money and silver; their on-site inspection is probably more weighty than any brand publicity.

Laser Version: Determination to Plug the Shortcomings

The place where EZ-60 was criticized the most before was that intelligent configuration was not "competitive" enough. When independent brands brought LiDAR and high-level intelligent driving down to the 150,000 Yuan class market, the basic version of EZ-60 could only provide L2 level assisted driving. This is an objective gap, and also one of the reasons its sales dropped from a peak of 4,565 units back to the 2,000-3,000 unit range.

But Mazda's reaction speed is faster than many people expected.

On August 25, 2026, the EZ-60 Laser version officially started pre-sales (which also means the August sales volume mentioned earlier was mainly contributed by the basic version models). The new car integrates LiDAR on the roof, cooperating with 11 high-definition cameras and 12 ultrasonic radars, and intelligent driving capability jumps from "basic assistance" to highway + urban dual-domain pilot.

The official clearly stated a sentence in the publicity: "Mazda does not fight for the best in intelligent driving, only fights for the right in intelligent driving, safety is always the first priority". If this sentence were put in the mouths of new forces, it would most likely be taken as marketing talk. But spoken by Mazda, coupled with its consistent accumulation in chassis and safety, the credibility is much higher.

In addition, the pricing strategy of the Laser version is also worth pondering. The pre-sale interval is 139,900 - 160,900 Yuan, basically pinned within the "effective price band" of joint venture new energy. This price directly entered the core hinterland of independent new energy SUVs such as Leapmotor C11 and Deepal S7. It is not using high specs and high prices to "show off muscles", but using a relatively restrained price to stuff high-level intelligent driving capabilities into a product that has already taken root, forcingly snatching chips from independent brand hands.

Written at the End

Perhaps, EZ-60 is not a "perfect" car. Its brand volume is limited, the product line is thin, and the start of intelligence is not early either.

But looking at it in the coordinate system of joint venture new energy, its position is much further ahead than most people think. 7 consecutive months of sub-segment championship, global three major market certification, strategic positioning of the Nanjing factory as Mazda's global new energy export center, and the laser version quickly making up for intelligent driving shortcomings have all become its greatest confidence.

The situation forces people. In a public opinion field where everyone is talking about "whether joint venture new energy has any hope", Mazda gave a specific, verifiable answer with EZ-60, that is, there is hope, but you must first lower your body and then show the real stuff.

In Lin Yan's view, the most precious place of EZ-60 is not in how many units were sold, but in that it proves one thing: A brand known for "obsession" in the fuel car era can still be obsessed in the new energy era, only this time the object of obsession has changed from rotary engines to "making a battery-powered Mazda look like a Mazda".

In the current situation where joint venture new energy is generally silent, Mazda's adherence to the essence of car-making is not a deliberate posture, but an obsession carved into the bones of the brand.

Perhaps, it may not be able to immediately reverse the market environment of the joint venture camp, but it can leave a tangible reference for this confused track. Its persistence not to follow the flow is itself worth being seriously seen and recorded.