Mazda forms CO₂ pool with Changan Mazda

To meet fleet emission targets in the EU and avoid fines, Japanese carmaker Mazda is forming a CO₂ pool with its Chinese joint venture Changan Mazda. The agreement initially applies for 2025, and other manufacturers can join the pool until the end of November.

Mazda6e fahrbericht — The Mazda6e is manufactured by Changan Mazda.
Image: Mazda

Changan and Mazda have been partners in China since 2012 through their joint venture, Changan Mazda. With the EZ-6 saloon, sold in Europe as the Mazda6e, and the EZ-60 crossover SUV, which will also arrive in Europe as the Mazda CX6-e, the partners have already jointly developed two electric vehicles.

Mazda is now cooperating with the Changan Mazda joint venture in the European market to meet the EU’s fleet-wide CO₂ targets through pooling. Since this year, all car manufacturers must achieve an average limit of 93.6 g CO₂/km across all passenger cars sold in the EU. Otherwise, they face penalty payments.

Further details about the agreement between Mazda and Changan Mazda are not yet known. In practice, the partnership mainly allows Mazda to offset the higher CO₂ emissions of its combustion-engine models with the zero emissions of the Mazda6e, which officially originates from Changan Mazda rather than Mazda itself. Looking ahead, if the pool continues in the coming years, it could also include additional joint models such as the Mazda CX6-e, due to launch in Europe in 2026. Moreover, Changan has recently entered the EU market with its Deepal-branded electric vehicles, which could also be suitable for pooling.

As part of its strategic dialogue on the future of the automotive industry, the European Commission has slightly relaxed the CO₂ rules for 2025–27. Manufacturers no longer have to meet their CO₂ targets every single year, only on average over the entire period. A weaker performance in 2025 would thus not lead directly to fines if it is offset by better results in 2026 and 2027.

Nevertheless, manufacturers are already positioning themselves to meet the targets as early as 2025 – and can form pools to do so. Under this system, several manufacturers are treated as one entity. In practice, it allows carmakers that exceed the CO₂ limit to team up with those that fall below it.

Several pools formed earlier this year. Mercedes-Benz has joined forces with Smart, Volvo Cars and Polestar, while Stellantis, Ford, Mazda and Subaru offset their CO₂ figures with those of Tesla. Just a few days ago, BYD and Nissan also announced a pooling agreement.

reuters.com

This article was first published by Florian Treiß for electrive’s German edition.