2022 Mazda CX-8 swaps diesel for petrol power

The Mazda CX-8 line-up has been rejigged for 2022, swapping out front-wheel drive diesel grades for additional front-wheel drive petrol options.

The Japanese marque says 70 per cent of Australian CX-8 customers are now choosing petrol power in the seven-seat family SUV.

As such, the car-maker has deleted GT front-wheel drive and Asaki front-wheel drive grades fitted with its 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine.

At the same time, Mazda has added GT front-wheel drive and Asaki front-wheel drive variants with a 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated petrol four-cylinder – thereby ensuring the CX-8 line-up remains at 11 variants.

The direct GT and Asaki petrol front-wheel drive replacements offer a discount of $2900 and $3000 over their outgoing diesel counterparts respectively, while elsewhere Mazda has applied modest price increases of between $100 and $530 across most of the CX-8 line-up for 2022.

Mazda Australia managing director Vinesh Bhindi explained the move simplifies the CX-8 range: if you want petrol then opt for front wheel drive, if you want diesel then opt for all-wheel drive.

“Customer demand for the model continues to grow; from November 2020 to November 2021 we’ve seen a more than 80 per cent increase on sales, encouraging us to further diversify the range to give customers even more choice,” he said.

Mazda says there is no change to specification levels across its CX-8 line-up, which received a modest overhaul in 2021.

How much does the 2022 Mazda CX-8 cost?
Sport Petrol FWD - $39,990
Touring Petrol FWD - $46,890
Touring SP Petrol FWD - $47,890
(New) GT Petrol FWD - $56,390
(New) Asaki Petrol FWD - $59,790
Sport Diesel AWD - $46,990
Touring Diesel AWD - $53,890
Touring SP Diesel AWD - $54,890
GT Diesel AWD - $63,390
Asaki Diesel AWD - $66,890
Asaki LE Diesel AWD - $69,390
*Prices exclude on-road costs