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...