2022 Mazda CX-8 price and features: Front-wheel-drive diesel dropped

Mazda Australia has ditched certain diesel variants of its CX-8 SUV, owing to low sales of the front-wheel drive grade.

Since the introduction of its 2.5-litre Skyactiv-G petrol engine in 2020 as the cheaper front-wheel drive alternative, over 70 per cent of customers have opted for the petrol CX-8 in all grades over the front- and all-wheel-drive 2.2-litre twin-turbocharged diesel.

The change will see the base diesel CX-8 Sport, GT and Asaki variants become no longer available, as the petrol becomes its only front-wheel-drive powertrain while the diesel is exclusively sold as an all-wheel drive.

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The popular Skyactiv-G petrol engine which accounts for a majority of CX-8 sales

Despite dropping the GT and Asaki diesel, both grades have been directly replaced with a petrol-powered alternative, coming in at a reduction of $2900 and $3000 respectively.

Mazda Australia Managing Director, Vinesh Bhindi, said sales of its variants had triggered the move, as the petrol's introduction saw sales of the SUV increase by nearly two-thirds last year.

“Mazda CX-8 has become a strong contender in the large family SUV category, with dimensions that offer good manoeuvrability without compromising on space or comfort for all seven occupants,” said Bhindi.

“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.”

The 2.5-litre petrol engine produces 140kW and 252Nm while the 2.2-litre twin-turbo diesel punches out the same power figure but with 450Nm, both of which are mated to a six-speed automatic gearbox.

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2022 Mazda CX-8 Australian pricing

Prices exclude on-road costs.