The third-generation Mazda CX-5 has been revealed and it’s coming to Australia in 2026, bringing a well-known but extra fashionable design inside and outside, and a well-known engine beneath the bonnet.
CarExpert understands the brand new CX-5 will launch right here in the course of the second half of 2026.
It would launch right here with a carryover naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine producing 132kW of energy and 242Nm of torque, the identical engine that’ll be used within the North American market.
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It’s mated with a six-speed automated transmission, with all-wheel drive customary… a minimum of at first.
Sadly, the punchy 170kW/420Nm 2.5-litre turbo-petrol engine has been axed globally.
Mazda Australia has confirmed we’ll get the primary hybrid CX-5, lastly giving the Japanese model a rival to the top-selling Toyota Rav4 Hybrid.
Timing for the CX-5 Hybrid, which is about to make use of Mazda’s new Skyactiv-Z engine and an in-house hybrid system, is but to be introduced as will probably be revealed at a later date.
Nonetheless, Mazda in North America has confirmed it’ll launch there in 2027.
Mazda Australia makes use of phrases like “confirmed” and “dependable” to explain the carryover four-cylinder engine, which it says it has recalibrated for higher flexibility, extra responsiveness, and a “extra relaxed, quiet manner”.
Nonetheless, it has misplaced 8kW and 10Nm within the course of. Nonetheless, it’s extra highly effective than the two.5-litre ‘eSkyactiv-G’ engine that’ll be supplied within the European-market CX-5, which produces 104kW and 238Nm however incorporates a 24V mild-hybrid system.
At 4690mm lengthy, 1860mm large and 1695mm tall, the brand new CX-5 is 115mm longer, 15mm wider than the outgoing mannequin.
It additionally rides on a wheelbase that’s 115mm longer at 2815mm, and continues to include MacPherson strut entrance and multi-link rear suspension.
The door openings are bigger for simpler entry, rear-seat passenger house is claimed to have been elevated, and the cargo space is now nearly 50mm longer with an 18mm decrease load peak.
The outside styling makes the new-generation mannequin immediately recognisable as a CX-5.
Whereas the silhouette is acquainted, there’s sharper detailing entrance and rear. Up entrance, there are nonetheless slim headlights and a crest-shaped grille, however Mazda says it has given the CX-5 a “extra chiselled, wider-set look”.
Down again, extra angular tail-lights tie the CX-5 in with just lately launched Mazda SUVs such because the CX-70 and CX-90.
The inside is arguably a higher departure from the outgoing automotive than the outside.
There’s a touch of Mazda’s new electrical 6e inside, with an enormous landscape-oriented infotainment touchscreen. However the CX-5’s is even bigger at 15.6 inches, making it Mazda’s largest but and significantly extra expansive than the outgoing mannequin’s 10.25-inch unit.
The outgoing CX-5 already had fairly a minimalist centre stack, however it nonetheless had bodily local weather controls. These are actually nearly all gone – most seem to now be anchored on the backside of the touchscreen, although bodily switches stay for the demister.
The infotainment display additionally incorporates a customisable dwelling display, permitting for fast entry to continuously used options.
A totally digital instrument cluster – like that in Mazda’s bigger SUVs – is seen in European-market imagery, whereas the brand new steering wheel has dropped Mazda’s brand for a wordmark as a substitute.
Ambient lighting is offered, whereas Mazda has proven off each tan and two-tone gray/black inside colourways and a panoramic sunroof that replaces the dated single-pane unit of the outgoing mannequin.
Carryover inside components seem like restricted to the gear shifter and the beginning button.
Mazda has promised “a number of” new ADAS (superior driver help system) options, although it hasn’t specified which. Imagery exhibits a driver consideration monitoring system within the cabin, nevertheless.
Forward of the brand new CX-5’s native launch, Mazda Australia has promised wholesome provide of the prevailing mannequin.
The primary CX-5 entered manufacturing in 2012, and Mazda’s mid-size SUV has been an enormous vendor in Australia with over 316,000 delivered right here since launch – and over 4.5 million globally throughout over 100 nations.
It was the best-selling SUV in Australia from 2013 to 2019, and in 2022 it reached a peak of 27,062 gross sales.
Although it has been overtaken by the Toyota RAV4 in gross sales, it has constantly remained one of many prime three best-selling autos in its phase for 13 years.
The CX-5 has managed this with out providing any type of electrification, a minimum of in Australia, whilst hybrid powertrains have quickly proliferated all through the mid-size SUV phase in recent times.
Whereas the outgoing CX-5 (pictured beneath) has supplied a mild-hybrid powertrain in Europe, it hasn’t come right here, and Mazda hasn’t had a hybrid to match rivals just like the RAV4 or a plug-in hybrid to match rivals just like the Mitsubishi Outlander.
The brand new CX-5 is not going to solely must fend off rivals like a new-generation RAV4 (due subsequent yr), a brand new Subaru Forester (coming quickly) and a refreshed Outlander (right here now), but additionally in-house competitors from the equally sized CX-60.
Mazda Australia is constant to increase the CX-60 lineup downwards, including a brand new base Pure trim this yr and saying the acquainted naturally aspirated 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine as the brand new base engine.
The CX-60 2.5-litre is due right here later this yr, set to supply a base value beneath the $50,240 earlier than on-roads sticker of the G40e Pure.
For context, the outgoing CX-5 vary is priced from $36,740 earlier than on-roads for the front-wheel drive 2.0-litre G20 Maxx, topping out at $55,150 earlier than on-roads for the turbocharged all-wheel drive G35 Akera.
