Revived Mazda CX-7 to share parts with Toyota SUV

The once-popular Mazda CX-7 nameplate could be resurrected as soon as 2021 as part of a US production deal with Toyota.

North American media outlets report the all-new Mazda CX-7 will join the Japanese brand’s five-strong global SUV line-up under a joint manufacturing deal at Toyota’s production facility in Huntsville, Alabama.

While joint production of an SUV was already known, this is the first time we’ve heard whispers of the CX-7 nameplate returning to the Mazda fold.

US outlet WardsAuto reports that Toyota will pull current production of the Corolla small car in order to build a new C-segment SUV alongside its Mazda equivalent.

If accurate, the born-again Mazda CX-7 will share its parts with a mysterious Toyota SUV previewed by the FT-4X concept at the 2017 New York motor show.

If it remains true to the concept, the unnamed Toyota SUV will be slightly shorter but wider than the C-HR small SUV, pitched as a rugged, urban-friendly SUV with an off-road focus.

The all-new Toyota SUV will reportedly feature internal combustion engine (ICE) and full battery-electric drivetrain options, and the Mazda SUV is expected to follow suit.

Previously, the head of Mazda North America, Masahiro Moro, indicated potential for the US-built Mazda SUV to be exported to markets including Australia.

"That will depend on how much Vinesh [Bhindi, Mazda Australia manager director] needs to get it. We are a business, we can try," he recently told carsales.com.au.

In a statement last week, Toyota put the production shift down to the “changing market demands and a growing consumer appetite for light trucks and SUVs which are achieving record sales”.

That includes the new Toyota RAV4, which attracted 400,000-plus sales in 2018.

“Toyota is shifting future production plans at the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA. (MTMUS) joint venture assembly plant as an opportunity to build a new, yet-to-be announced SUV,” it said.

“More details related to the future SUV will be released at a later date. Corolla production continues at Toyota’s Blue Springs, Mississippi, plant.”

In August 2017, Toyota and Mazda announced a collaboration to establish MTMUS, a $US1.6 billion joint-venture that will assemble up to 300,000 vehicles annually and create up to 4000 new jobs.

Toyota says construction of the joint facility in Huntsville, Alabama remains on schedule, with production expected to begin in 2021.

The original Mazda CX-7 was a strong performer in Australian showrooms until it was ultimately replaced by the all-conquering CX-5 in 2013, to sit below the CX-9.

Since then Mazda has introduced the small CX-3 and large CX-8, and will add the all-new CX-30 early next year.