Mazda CX-5 replacement edges closer to launch with new hybrid system

The Mazda CX-5 is no spring chicken anymore, but a replacement is around the corner which will bring a new hybrid system.

In releasing its second-quarter financial results for the fiscal year ending in March 2025, Mazda revealed some information about upcoming product launches.

The next CX-5 will launch between 2025 and 2027.

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As previously confirmed, the next CX-5 will be the first generation of this model to offer a hybrid powertrain; the current model has only been offered with a mild-hybrid system, and only in select markets.

This hybrid system will be a new one developed in-house, in contrast with the mid-sized CX-50 offered in markets like China and North America which uses a Toyota hybrid system.

Mazda has also confirmed it’s considering “deploying the technical elements” of this system to vehicles on its Large Architecture, which comprise the CX-60, CX-70, CX-80 and CX-90 SUVs.

The CX-5 may also feature Mazda’s new Skyactiv-Z four-cylinder engine, which will replace the Skyactiv-G and Skyactiv-X engines. It’s due in 2027.

Mazda says this uses the lambda one “theoretical” combustion method, with high thermal efficiency and “super lean burn combustion” over the rev range for better performance and lower emissions.

It’s being designed to meet Euro 7 emissions regulations in Europe and LEV4/Tier 4 regulations in the US; combustion technology of this engine will also be rolled out to the brand’s new inline six-cylinder engines.

While the CX-5 is gaining a hybrid option, don’t expect as sprawling a range as the current model.

With the next car, Mazda says it aims to reduce complexity by approximately 60 per cent through streamlining specifications “to make it easier for customers to choose”. It plans to expand this strategy to existing vehicles, too.

Mazda says this will improve its cost efficiency with the next CX-5 by six per cent.

Currently, the CX-5 is offered in Australia with a choice of naturally aspirated 2.0-litre and 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engines, plus a turbocharged 2.5-litre four.

The 2.0-litre is front-wheel drive-only, the turbo is all-wheel drive-only, and the atmo 2.5-litre is the only one to offer both.

A 2.2-litre turbo-diesel was previously offered here, but was dropped for model year 2024. It lives on in markets like Japan.

In Europe, the CX-5 is offered with a choice of 2.0-litre and 2.5-litre fours with 24V mild-hybrid assistance, reducing emissions while also producing more power and torque than the corresponding engines in Australia.

The next-generation CX-5 could gain a new 104kW 2.5-litre atmo four that debuted in the Mazda 3 and CX-30 overseas this year.

While Mazda now offers a newer but similarly sized SUV in China and North America called the CX-50 – which remains left-hand drive-only – the CX-5 is still being renewed for another generation.

The company is also still referring to its as a CX-5, indicating it’ll keep its nameplate even as newer Mazda SUVs have adopted a two-digit number in their nameplates.

Mazda Australia has confirmed we’ll get the next CX-5, which was first announced back in 2022.

The current model entered production back in 2016, but its underpinnings date back further to 2012.

Despite its age, the CX-5 was still Mazda’s best-selling vehicle globally in 2023 with 354,850 sales, down 2.8 per cent on the year before.

Likewise, it was Mazda’s best-selling vehicle locally. The brand shifted 23,083 examples last year, making it the eighth best-selling vehicle in Australia.

It was the third best-selling vehicle in the mid-sized SUV segment, behind only the Mitsubishi Outlander (24,263) and Toyota RAV4 (29,627).

MORE: Everything Mazda CX-5