Describes the Operation

IRVINE, Calif. — While other carmakers have scurried around building electric vehicles, hybrids and fuel cell-powered cars, Mazda has taken a different approach. Robert Davis, the company’s senior vice-president, special assignments, said Mazda’s predictions hold that the internal combustion engine, in some form or another, will remain a key, base-level technology in vehicles for years, even as electric and hybrid vehicles increase in number.