Mazda will bring a striking new electric saloon to Europe as a rival to the BMW i4 and Tesla Model 3.

The EZ-6 was revealed at the Beijing motor show in April as an electric successor to the mid-sized Mazda 6, produced by the Japanese firm’s joint venture with Changan in China.

Mazda had previously given no indication of plans to sell the EZ-6 outside of China, but it has now signed an “agreement on electric vehicle export co-operation” with Changan Mazda, which will become “its exclusive Chinese new-energy R&D and production base facing the global market”.

The announcement means “the EZ-6 will be Mazda's first global new-energy vehicle”, the company said, adding that it would come to the Chinese and European markets from autumn this year. 

Autocar understands a UK launch is possible as part of this global push but a decision has yet to be made. 

Mazda currently sells just one EV in Europe, the MX-30 compact SUV. In the first half of this year, it achieved just a 5% EV sales mix in the UK – around half that of Toyota and a quarter that of Lexus. 

The EZ-6 could significantly alter that balance, given that its size and shape (it measures 4921mm long and has a 2900mm wheelbase) line it up neatly as a direct rival to the likes of the Tesla Model 3, Polestar 2 and BMW i4 - some of the most popular EVs on the market.

There has been no word on pricing yet, but Chinese-built EVs are now subject to significant import tariffs in the EU.

Cars built by Changan specifically will incur duties of 20.8%, meaning the EZ-6 is unlikely to be priced as a value alternative to the mainstream contenders.

The EZ-6 is technically unrelated to any Mazda model currently on sale, being based on a modular platform supplied by Changan, dubbed EPA. 

Already used in China for the similarly sized Deepal SL03 saloon, this platform can accommodate pure-electric and range-extender (REx) drivetrains, as well as as Qualcomm-powered level-four autonomy - although the EZ-6 will initially be limited to level two plus, which still requires constant human supervision. 

The EZ-6 will be offered as either an EV with a rear-mounted 218bhp motor and an estimated range of 373 miles or as a REx (an increasingly popular option in China) with a claimed total range of around 745 miles. 

It's unclear whether the global export plans apply to both powertrain formats, but notably the MX-30 is uniquely available as both an EV and a REx in the UK.

Mazda emphasises that although the EZ-6 is electric, it has "leveraged its extensive expertise in dynamic performance tuning from the gasoline vehicle era to elevate driving pleasure", with engineers from the company's European R&D centre travelling to China to contribute to the car's development programme.

It will, the company suggested, embody the same 'jinba ittai' ethos (meaning 'car and driver as one') as the old petrol-engined 6, with a 50:50 front-to-rear weight distribution, multi-link rear suspension and a self-raising rear spoiler that aids high-speed stability. 

The interior is, like that of many Chinese-market EVs, a minimalist but luxurious affair that majors on touch and voice control, dominated by a 14.6in infotainment touchscreen and with physical controls limited to haptic switches on the steering wheel. 

Alongside the EZ-6 at the Beijing motor show, Mazda and Changan revealed the Arata concept as a vision of an SUV that's set to enter production in 2025 atop the same EPA platform. They haven't yet confirmed plans to sell it outside China.