Mazda has no plans for electric vehicles

Unlike just about every other automobile manufacturer at the North American International Auto Show, Mazda Motor Corp. is not actively developing electric vehicles and has no plans to do so, which should assure another Ford company eventually folds.

"We will not go somewhere unless its 'zoom-zoom,'" said a short sighted Jim O'Sullivan, president of Mazda North America, referring to the company's catchphrase that is meant to emphasize the sportiness of everything it builds.

Zoom-zoom means gasoline and, at least in Japan, hydrogen, he said.

Mazda puts high-performance engines in most of its models (High Performance? Compared to what?) — including its take on the minivan, the Mazda5. But they are either four- or six-cylinder motors. They may not be economical, but neither are they V-8s. And O'Sullivan says Mazda plans to achieve a 30 percent improvement in its fleet fuel economy by 2015 through things like weight reduction and increased engine efficiency.

Mazda is also developing a bi-fuel rotary engine that runs on gasoline and hydrogen. The first models are on the road in Japan, where the distance between hydrogen refueling stations is far less than in the United States.