TOKYO—The chief executive of Mazda Motor Corp. said the company plans to start selling electric vehicles in 2019, joining rivals at home that face tightening emission standards abroad.

“We’ve set the goal at 2019 to accommodate the ZEV regulations in North America,” Mazda CEO Masamichi Kogai said in a group interview, referring to rules in California and some other states that mandate rising sales of zero-emission vehicles.

Nissan Motor Co. has sold its Leaf electric vehicle since 2010 and Toyota Motor Corp. said this month it wanted to get itself ready for commercializing electric cars.

Mr. Kogai said Mazda would add original features to its electric cars to differentiate itself. He said engineers were looking at ways to keep the cars running longer when the battery was nearly dead.

Mazda and Toyota last year said they would build a long-term partnership on car technology. Representatives from the two companies said collaboration on electric vehicles was an option but nothing was decided. Mr. Kogai said they weren’t considering a capital tie-up.