For years, we hoped and dreamed.

The Mazda 6 sedan and wagon duo have hung around in broadly the same form since 2012 which, in car years, is at dribbling geriatric levels. Not that we've minded - incredibly handsome as they are.

Then, in 2024, Mazda rolled out a range of new SUVs with a magic combination of 3.3-litre inline-6 petrol engine and rear-wheel drive, and our imaginations lost no time in sketching this same drivetrain in a passenger-car body. It'd be just like the good ol' days of Holden and Ford.

Well. Except it won't. Because at long last, the new Mazda 6 is here - and it's fully electric, and not even from Japan.

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What is it?

The Mazda 6e is a joint venture between head office and China's Changan Automobile, and up to now, exclusive to the Chinese market under the name of Mazda EZ-6.

This means it shares more in common with the Deepal brand, also owned by Changan, than any Mazda we've ever known. It's underpinned by the same basic architecture as the Deepal S07, even if the only exact parts it shares are the side windows.

It's also technically a hatchback, meaning the rear glass lifts up with the boot (not that that's a deviation - the earlier 6 models were also hatchbacks).

That spoiler must have been what won it World Car Design of the Year 2026.

Next month, the 6e will be joined in Australia by another redesigned Deepal - the CX-6 SUV. So they're going all in on it.

It certainly looks unlike any 6 we've seen. Sleek and otherworldly, and with a raiseable spoiler, even if the rear finishes a little abruptly. It's already won World Car Design of the Year 2026, following in the footsteps of the previous Mazda 6 which was finalist in 2013 right behind the stunning Jaguar F-Type.

Hailing from China seems to reverse inflation too. The base 6e GT model starts from $49,990 and the flagship Atenza from $52,990 - or almost bang-on with the old 6. It's just a pity there's no true $35K entry model anymore.

What's it like to live with?

I was eager for an EV that would dial in all the things we love about Mazdas - the good design and dainty deftness - that makes them among the best ordinary driver's cars out there.

And even in the GT spec loaned us by Mazda Australia, the cabin is beautiful in that classy, refined, light and airy Japanese way. Like a Zen garden.

Unfortunately, however, that's also where the zen ended. Everything else would be more familiar to the owner of your typical Chinese EV. Stylish and techy, but heavy and a bit dull.

You know right away there's a massive slab of batteries stowed underneath purely by how high you're sitting. No amount of poking the seat controls put my head any further away from the sunroof either.

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And if the iMax screen in the latest CX-5 SUV wasn't to your liking, you're in for a tech-induced meltdown in the 6e. There are menus and acronyms and graphics everywhere. Even the screen right in front of the driver is tricky, with writing so tiny only an eagle could make it out on a fine day.

Then there's a voice chipping in from the dash every so often with helpful reminders about how you've parked on a slope, and how the 360-degree parking camera is on but also "please pay attention to where you're going". Presumably, it also keeps an eye on the Pope to alert you if ever deviates from Catholicism.

Beyond this, the brake pedal is spongey. And it's fine when turning, but pointing the steering wheel in a straight line feels like trying to wrestle the same poles of a magnet together - it just keeps wanting to slip either left or right. It's faint, but enough to annoy me.

Redeeming features? It's comfortable. And quick. And quiet. And once you've found what you want in the central touchscreen labyrinth, easy enough to live with.

The enormous screen does come in handy for parking.

The verdict

Perhaps don't come to the 6e with bated breath for the traditional Mazda experience. Drive it blindfolded, and provided you didn't crash, you'd conclude you were in a BYD. Are you getting the Mazda name? Yes, but also not really.

This means the only real way the new 6 will get ahead comes down to pricing. And when a BYD Seal starts at $46,990, even that's close.

But at the end of the day, maybe I'm just salty we didn't get an inline-6 and rear drive.