Mazda CX-50 debut locked in

A reveal date for the 2022 Mazda CX-50 has been officially locked in, with the all-new SUV confirmed to make its debut on November 15, ahead of the Los Angeles motor show starting two days later.

The confirmation comes from Mazda USA’s Instagram page, where the Japanese car-maker posted a short teaser video of a semi-obscured CX-50 driving through a forest with a canoe on its roof alongside the caption: ‘There is always a new terrain. The journey begins 11/15’.

Little can be ascertained from the video and no new information was revealed about the CX-50, which will be the first of five all-new CX-badged Mazda SUVs to be released globally between now and 2023.

However, it’s known that Mazda’s first CX-50 model will be a member of the company’s Small Product Group, based on the same platform as the CX-3 and Mazda 3, and produced at a new joint-venture plant with Toyota in Huntsville, Alabama from January 2022.

It’s not clear whether the CX-50 will be smaller or, as some media reports insist, larger and higher-tech than the popular CX-5, which will be facelifted in early 2022 and is expected to be replaced by an all-new model based on Mazda’s new rear/all-wheel platform in coming years.

Importantly, however, Mazda has said the CX-50 will be sold exclusively in North America, where Mazda already sells the CX-3, CX-30, CX-5, CX-9 and, in California, the MX-30 EV – and where all Mazda CX models will be all-wheel drive going forward.

So far Mazda Australia has confirmed only that it will launch the all-new CX-60 here by the end of next year and that its new-generation SUV rollout will be complete by the end of 2023.

Apart from the CX-60, Mazda Australia also has the option of introducing the CX-70, CX-80 and CX-90, all of which are part of the company’s upcoming Large Product Group and based on a new platform with longitudinally mounted powertrains.

While the CX-8 is set to continue for now, Mazda’s flagship CX-9 is likely to be retired and replaced by the all-new CX-90.

Confusingly, the five-seat CX-60 and seven-seat CX-80 are narrow-body SUVs aimed primarily at Europe and Japan, while the five-seat CX-70 and seven-seat CX-90 are wide-body SUVs targeting the US market.

In Europe, the CX-60 and CX-80 will be powered by four-cylinder plug-in hybrid petrol powertrains, plus Mazda’s new-generation SKYACTIV-X petrol and SKYACTIV-D diesel straight-six turbo engines with 48-volt mild-hybrid tech.

In North America, the CX-70 and CX-90 will be offered with both inline-six and plug-in hybrid four-cylinder petrol powertrains, while Japan will get a mix of mild-hybrid turbo-diesel six and PHEV petrol four options in the CX-60 and CX-70. Stay tuned for the all the latest on Mazda’s latest SUVs, including next week’s reveal of the new CX-50.