Mazda Arata electric SUV concept revealed, previews look of 2025 CX-5 successor

Mazda has unveiled a new electric SUV concept at the 2024 Beijing Auto Show.

The Mazda Arata concept – meaning "fresh" or "new" in Japanese – previews a production vehicle set to launch in China by the end of 2025 and provides insight into how the next-generation CX-5 midsize SUV could look.

“The concept model Mazda Arata… is scheduled to be mass-produced as the second new electrified vehicle by the end of 2025 and introduced in the Chinese market,” said Mazda.

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“In China, where electrification is rapidly advancing, Mazda will expand its line-up of electrified products so that more customers can choose them.”

Following the 2025 Mazda EZ-6 electric or plug-in hybrid sedan revealed this week – which replaces the Mazda 6 in China – the new electric SUV will be co-developed with Mazda’s Chinese joint-venture partner Changan.

The SUV derivative – codenamed J90K and likely badged ‘EZ-60’ – should be based on the midsize Changan Deepal S7, which has similar dimensions to the Tesla Model Y.

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Like the EZ-6, the EZ-60 is likely to be underpinned by Changan’s ‘EPA’ vehicle platform instead of Mazda’s dedicated 'SkyActiv Multi-Solution Scalable Architecture’.

Mazda president and CEO Masahiro Moro said the Japanese brand will continue to work with Changan to “turn Mazda’s China business around” and sell “unique products that meet the needs of Chinese customers who prefer advanced vehicles”.

Like other foreign manufacturers – including Toyota and Nissan – Mazda faces strong competition from domestic brands who have shifted to offering ‘new energy vehicles’, the Chinese market term for electric and hybrid cars.

While the Mazda Arata concept directly previews the ‘EZ-60’ electric SUV due in 2025, it is also a look at the brand’s evolved Kodo design language that should feature in the successor to the top-selling CX-5, which is expected to debut in the next 12 to 18 months.

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It wears slimmer daytime running lights, a lower main headlight beam, a closed-off grille, ‘cross-wing’ tail-lights similar to the CX-60 and CX-90, an illuminated rear M-A-Z-D-A badge, and a more-aggressive spoiler with a vertical brake light.

There are also air tunnels “at the tips of the front end hood, on both sides of the front bumper, and on the inside of the d-pillars” to improve aerodynamics.

As detailed here, third-generation Mazda CX-5 could become the ‘CX-40’ to slot between the CX-30 and CX-50.

Local executives have confirmed the new model will retain the CX-5’s “size, packaging and value”, meaning it’ll have a similar footprint to today's model, which competes with other midsize SUVs such as the Toyota RAV4, Mitsubishi Outlander, Hyundai Tucson, Subaru Forester and Kia Sportage.

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Under the skin, the new CX-5 would logically adopt the front- or all-wheel-drive Small Platform architecture from the latest Mazda 3 hatch/sedan, CX-30 and CX-50.

This would improve ride comfort, noise, vibration and harshness suppression, but it could see Mazda ditch the current CX-5’s multi-link independent rear suspension for a simpler torsion beam setup (including on AWD models as on the CX-30 and CX-50).

For more information on the successor to the current Mazda CX-5, click on the featured article below.