New Mazda CX-50 blueprints leaked

Fresh patent images of the all-new Mazda CX-50 have surfaced ahead of the crossover-coupe’s expected official debut at the Los Angeles motor show this November.

The images, used to patent the 2022 Mazda CX-50 in the US, provide our first glimpse of the sportier new SUV's nose, grille and rear three-quarter, confirming it will be far more striking than the current CX-5, and updated version of which is due Down Under later this year.

Set to be positioned alongside the popular CX-5, the next generation of which will transition to Mazda’s new rear/all-wheel drive platform with straight-six engines, the more style-focused compact SUV won’t be sold in Australia, but the bigger new CX-60 has been confirmed for local release in 2022.

A further three all-new Mazda SUV models – CX-70, CX-80 and the CX-9-replacing CX-90 flagship – are all under consideration for our market, say Mazda sources.

Unlike the confirmed CX-60 and its bigger brothers, the smaller CX-50 misses out on Mazda's all-new Large Product Group architecture that will also underpin the next-generation rear-wheel drive Mazda6.

That means it will not come with the Japanese brand's new family of mild-hybrid inline six-cylinder petrol and diesel powertrains that have been designed to be installed longitudinally.

Instead, the sharp-suited CX-50 will share its Small Product Group platform and transverse mounted four-cylinder engines with the Mazda3 and Mazda CX-30.

Set to be a more affordable rival for coupe-like SUVs such as the BMW X4, the CX-50 will be built alongside Toyota vehicles in a joint-venture Alabama plant in the US.

This suggests right-hand drive is likely to be off the table and that the sportier take on the CX-5 will be limited to the North American market.

Thought to have been designed at Mazda's Californian design studio, the CX-50 looks like it will feature an evolutionary design with a similar grille to the current CX-5, although the headlights and lower bumper differ significantly.

At the rear, a new full-width LED light bar has also been introduced.

Following the Mazda CX-50’s anticipated world debut at the LA motor show next month, US sales are scheduled to kick off around January 2022.