Mazda representative director, president, and chief executive officer Masahiro Moro has confirmed what everyone and their dog was looking forward to from the Japanese automaker's best-selling model. During the Financial Results Fiscal Year Mach 2024 presentation, he let it slip that next-generation Mazda CX-5 will receive a hybrid system built around a SkyActiv gasoline engine.
Moro further mentioned that a hybrid version of the CX-50 for North America will be added to the lineup in the second half of 2024, presumably for the 2025 model year. Thing is, the CX-50 isn't getting Skyactiv power. A little over a year ago, Changan Mazda revealed the CX-50 Hybrid for the Chinese market during the Shanghai Motor Show.
The 2.5-liter engine, high-voltage battery, and electric motors all come from the RAV4 Hybrid, resulting in 163 kW combined for the all-wheel-drive version. That's 219 horsepower, which is the max output of the RAV4 Hybrid for the United States. Over in Europe, that'd be 222 pferdstarke.
Rather than buying the RAV4 Hybrid's powertrain for the next-generation Mazda CX-5, the automaker from Hiroshima describes the hybrid powertrain of the forthcoming model as being an "original" design that relies on an "enhanced Skyactiv engine." By enhanced, Mazda is referring to improvements in combustion efficiency and carbon emissions too.
It's not clear which engine will be used, though. Skyactiv-G lumps come in a variety of displacements, beginning with 1.3 and 1.5 liters for the Mazda2 subcompact hatchback and sedan. The next step up is 2.0 liters, while front-biased vehicles such as the CX-5 further sport a 2.5-liter variant.
Photo: Mazda / edited
Don't forget Skyactiv-X, though. Despite selling much worse than Skyactiv-G powerplants intended for transverse applications, Mazda continues development of the spark-controlled-compression-ignition engine family. Be that as it may, it should be noted that Mazda does not sell SkyActiv-X vehicles in the US of A or China as of May 2024.
Both may be compacts, but Mazda's CX-5 and CX-50 are very different animals under the skin. Not only does the CX-50 feature a longer wheelbase, but it's based on the Small Product Group platform of the CX-30 and Mazda3 rather than the Skyactiv C/D platform of the CX-5. Also worthy of note, the MX-5 is underpinned by the Skyactiv R, while the CX-3 subcompact crossover employs the Skyactiv B.
Manufactured in the United States at the Huntsville, Alabama plant where Toyota makes the Corolla Cross, the CX-50 starts at $30,300 with standard i-ACTIV AWD, wireless Apple CarPlay, and radar cruise control with stop & go function. The standard 2.5-liter mill can be had with a turbocharger, which ups the sticker price to $38,000 at the very least.
Codenamed KF and in production since 2016 for the 2017 model year on the first generation's platform, the outgoing CX-5 is $29,300 before destination charge. Similar to the CX-50, prospective customers are presented with standard all-wheel drive and 2.5-liter muscle in combination with the Skyactiv AT six-speed automatic transmission.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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