Perhaps even more than in Europe, in North America SUVs are crucial to the brands' success. Which brings us to yesterday's revelation, where Mazda unveiled its latest SUV, the Mazda CX-50.
Exclusively for the North American market (US and Canada), the new CX-50 is a kind of more adventurous «brother» of the CX-5, but that doesn't mean that it is a copy of the model we know so well, or even that derive directly from it.
Despite being parallel to the CX-5 and having similar dimensions, the new Mazda CX-50 is not based on the CX-5 and will not replace it (both models will be sold at the same time).
The new CX-50 builds on the Skyactiv-Vehicle Architecture, the platform on which the Mazda3, CX-30 and MX-30 is based, while the CX-5 uses a platform from a generation ago.
typically Mazda
On the outside, the design is typically Mazda, adopting the Kodo language, combined here with more straight-edged elements (such as optics), sturdier plastic body shields and higher profile tires, which betray its adventurous aspirations.The interior is in line with the latest proposals from the Hiroshima brand. It is precisely there that the CX-50 most differs from the CX-5, with a more modern look and closer to that used in the Mazda3 and CX-30, than the SUV that was recently renovated.
all-wheel drive is the norm
Equipping the new CX-50 we find the 2.5 l Skyactiv-G four-cylinder in two versions: naturally aspirated (190 hp and 252 Nm) and turbo (254 hp and 434 Nm), just like what happens in the CX-5 North American. In both cases, the tetracylindrical is associated with an automatic gearbox with six relations.
Promised is still a hybrid version that will make use of hybrid technology from Toyota, but a date for its arrival has not yet been set.
As if to prove the adventurous aspirations of the CX-50, all versions are equipped as standard with all-wheel drive (i-Activ AWD system) and with the new Mi-Drive system that allows you to select different driving modes, including some designed for an off-road use.
Factory split halfway with Toyota
The new Mazda CX-50 will be produced from January 2022 at the new Mazda Toyota Manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama.
Owned 50:50 by the two manufacturers, this plant has the capacity to produce 300,000 vehicles annually (150,000 of each brand) and was conceived as part of a broader collaboration between Mazda and Toyota, which includes the development of technologies for electric vehicles, connected automobiles and security systems.