MAZDA 6E

Japanese brand endeavours to fulfil its electric saloon obligation

- ILLYA VERPRAET

Many of us would love for Mazda to keep merrily making MX-5s and a supporting cast of sensibly sized hatchbacks with zingy petrol engines and manual gearboxes, maybe with a couple of straight-six diesels thrown in. But the powers that be have decreed otherwise: whether it wants to or not, the brand needs a credible electric vehicle (the MX-30 has charm but not much else).

If you're BMW, you can counter any legislative flip-flopping by betting on all the horses: petrol, diesel, hybrid, electric, tick off hydrogen just in case. But Mazda just doesn't have the engineering might to do all of it well. So for its new 6e, it has turned to its Chinese manufacturing partner Changan and Mazdafied the Deepal SL03.

It must be said that, design-wise, it started in a pretty good place, because unless you're already aware of the SL03 (and if you live in Europe, why would you be?), you couldn't tell this wasn't originally conceived as a Mazda. With the long, flat bonnet, flowing sides and elegant silhouette, it looks every bit the natural successor to the much-loved third-generation Mazda 6 that went off sale in 2023.

The way the signature Mazda grille has been integrated is pretty neat, too: the lights that peek through the relatively flat bumper create the illusion of a more three-dimensional piece. At the back, there's a deployable spoiler and four round lights that reference other Mazdas, such as the FD RX-7.