Next-gen Mazda CX-5 slated for Australia in 2022 – UPDATE: CX-60 confirmed
The first in a line of new rear-wheel-drive Mazda SUVs will launch next year, with the first model set to be the next CX-5 mid-sizer.
UPDATE: The new rear-drive mid-size SUV previously reported to be the next Mazda CX-5 has been confirmed as the Mazda CX-60 – with the current CX-5 to remain on sale beside the new model for the foreseeable future. Click here for more details.
Mazda Australia will launch the first in its new range of rear-wheel-drive SUVs in 2022, believed to be the next-generation 2022 Mazda CX-5 (or CX-50).
In a statement relating to the reveal of the updated, front-wheel-drive-based 2022 Mazda CX-5, Mazda Australia managing director Vinesh Bhindi confirmed: "We anticipate the arrival of new generation, large platform SUVs arriving in 2022.”
While the identity of the new SUV – riding on Mazda's new rear-wheel-drive Large architecture – isn't confirmed, it's widely tipped to be the next-generation CX-5 (or CX-50, as reports suggest it could be called), rumoured for a Japanese launch in late 2022.
Spy photos earlier this year are believed to have captured our first look at the new model, rumoured to be around 50mm longer than the car it replaces for more space inside the cabin and boot.
The new CX-5 is slated to debut a family of inline-six petrol and diesel engines, paired to 48-volt mild-hybrid or full plug-in hybrid system and, according to some reports, outputs of up to 210kW/600Nm at launch.
The new Large architecture beneath the next CX-5 is set to underpin the next-generation Mazda 6 sedan and wagon rumoured to launch in Japan in 2022, along with the next iterations of the larger CX-8 and CX-9 seven-seaters.
A coupe-styled version of the mid-size SUV could also be in the works – with this vehicle suggested by some to be the model wearing the CX-50 moniker, instead of its more practical sibling.
With the first Large platform-based Mazda SUV to launch by the end of 2022, the next-generation Mazda CX-5's unveiling could arrive earlier than the late 2022 date reported in Japan, with a global debut in the first half of the year now appearing probable.
For everything we know so far about the new Mazda CX-5, click here to read the full story. Stay tuned to Drive for all the latest updates.