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Mazda might be a relative minnow in the car world but in Australia it punches like a heavyweight, consistently sitting on the finisher’s podium in the monthly car sales tally.
Central to its appeal is a brand-wide emphasis on pleasing dynamics, and though it only sells one performance car – the MX-5 – Mazda still goes to the trouble of imbuing even its more pedestrian nameplates with plenty of driving panache. Beyond that, there’s very little dead weight in the range. Pretty much every Mazda currently on sale is either at the pointy end of its segment in terms of sales, or sits very close to it.
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So far in 2024, the brand has spent significant effort in extending its push into the premium space, a process it started in 2023 with the clean-slate CX-60 and CX-90 SUVs.
Though there’s a fair bit of old metal in the Mazda showroom, such as the 12 year-old GJ-generation Mazda 6 and the 10 year-old DJ Mazda 2, running updates have kept the lineup as fresh as possible.
Some subtraction has occurred though, with the popular Mazda CX-9 now retired and the CX-8 following it into the nursing home as Mazda’s new range of longitudinally-engined large SUVs take over their roles. The MX-30 was also quietly withdrawn after sluggish sales in Australia, and manual-equipped versions of the CX-30 and CX-5 were discontinued as well.
But both 2024 and 2025 have more than a few new arrivals for the brand. Here’s what’s fresh - and what’s lurking around the corner - for Mazda:
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JUMP AHEAD
Confirmed models
Potential models
Confirmed
CX-70
In October 2024, Mazda Australia will bulk out its large SUV family with the arrival of the Mazda CX-70.
As a five-seat longitudinally-engined SUV, what sets it apart from Mazda’s existing large five-seat high-riding wagon, the CX-60? Space. In essence, the CX-70 is not much more than a five-seat derivative of the CX-90 that’s already landed, meaning you get the more generous proportions of the CX-90 in the first and second row, but without the fuss – and weight – of the third row. Besides that, pretty much everything else, including engine, trim options, and sheetmetal, should be basically identical to the CX-90.
Prices are still under wraps until the local launch, but expect customer deliveries to commence before the end of 2024.
CX-80
The CX-80 is also slated to arrive in October, and essentially flips the CX-70’s script – it’s fundamentally a seven-seat version of the CX-60 that launched here in 2023.
Unlike the CX-70, however, there’s greater exterior differentiation between the CX-70 and its CX-60 cousin, with unique sheetmetal around the rear end to accommodate its fold-out third row and subtly different body plastics and lamp clusters.
Like the CX-70, local pricing and specs are still TBD, but with an October launch on the calendar you won’t need to wait long to find out.
CX-5 replacement
While a replacement for Mazda’s best-selling SUV was expected to land in 2025, word on the street is that the second-gen Mazda CX-5 still has one more minor update in front of it before an all-new model makes its debut, which now seems more likely to happen in 2026.
Mazda has given the CX-5 almost annual changes to keep since the nameplate went on sale in 2012 to keep its mid-size SUV in the mix – which appears to have succeeded, if sales figures are anything to go by.
What will replace the CX-5, though? That’s still a closely-guarded secret, with Mazda even going so far as to say that though it definitely has a next-generation mid-size SUV in the works, it’s not even sure if the CX-5 nameplate will be put on it. All we know is that it’s unlikely to make an appearance until 2026, or very late in 2025 at the earliest
MX-5
In 2025, we’ll likely get our first look at what will replace the current ND-generation MX-5 – the 2016 Wheels Car of the Year – and with rumours of hybridisation or even a shift to full electrification, it’s promising to bring a seismic shift to the tiny roadster.
Before then, the current ND MX-5 will be treated to some final tweaks before it’s replaced. Earlier in 2024, the manual MX-5 GT RS arrived with a new ‘DSC Track’ mode, BBS alloys and stiffer Bilsteins, while all three-pedal MX-5s scored an Asymmetric Limited Slip Differential (LSD) plus improved throttle response and steering changes.
Automatic MX-5s missed out on those changes, but range-wide new alloy wheel designs and fresh seat trims – as well as price rises – accompanied the arrival of the MX-5 RF GT auto trim level.
It’s worth noting that 2024 marks the 35th anniversary of the MX-5, and according to the MX-5 program manager Mazda’s engineers have been cooking up a special edition to celebrate the occasion. We expect to see that one land locally sometime next year as the final evolution of the ND MX-5.
CX-90 Plug-in Hybrid
The six-cylinder CX-90 large SUV arrived in 2023 as Mazda’s largest SUV with premium appointments, and a premium price, to tackle German prestige marques.
But what’s been missing from the CX-90 is a plug-in hybrid drivetrain. The CX-90’s platform partner, the CX-60 has that option in Australia, and it exists in overseas markets like the USA – so why do we only get six-pots Down Under?
Mazda sees the USA as the priority market for the CX-90, and with the extra complications of engineering a right-hook version of the PHEV just for Aussies is, apparently, a bridge too far for now. That may change in the future, though don’t expect to see an Australian plug-in CX-90 until very, very late in 2025 at the earliest.
Potential future models
EZ-6 electric sedan
When it broke cover at the Beijing Auto Show in April 2024, the Mazda EZ-6 sparked a flurry of speculation – was this Chinese-market electric sedan Mazda’s answer to the Tesla Model 3?
Would the rest of the world eventually get to sample the sleekly-styled four-door, which is largely based on the Deepal SL03?
Media reports have since surfaced of a supposed plan to commence exports of the EZ-6 to Europe, however we checked with Mazda themselves and those reports are, at this point in time, far from confirmed, with no timeline for a global release announced.
However with the Mazda 6 so long in the tooth, perhaps the time is right for a new-energy replacement to carry Mazda’s baton in the mid-size segment? As to its prospects for Australia that would hinge on availability of a RHD version, but given Deepal, Mazda’s Chinese dance partner on the EZ-6/SL03 joint venture, is planning on entering the Aussie market, that’s not outside the realm of possibility.
Mazda 2
The current third-generation Mazda 2 went on sale in 2014, making it well past retirement age in passenger-car terms.
It’s still an important model globally so it’s unlikely it will not be replaced, but the next Mazda 2 may well be an electric-powered city car using the car maker’s new electric architecture.
The new platform will not be ready until 2025 – leaving the current car in showrooms for another 12 months, likely longer.
The existing Mazda 2 received its second significant facelift in July 2023, which suggests Mazda Australia won’t follow Mazda Europe, where the 2 was replaced by a rebadged Toyota Yaris Hybrid to meet emissions regulations.
Instead, the compact hatchback and sedan got a minor update for Australia in late 2023 that brought that facelift in and shifted spec levels and pricing, including new support for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.
CX-3
The CX-3 remains one of the biggest-selling small SUVs in Australia – and still using the same underpinnings that it took from the Mazda 2 in 2015.
While minor updates in the last 12 months saw AWD and manual transmission models deleted from the line-up, a new CX-3 is needed in the near-term for continued success.
As Mazda focuses on higher-grade ‘CX’ SUVs, the CX-30 has pushed the CX-3 out of its US and European showrooms, but the CX-3 remains the third-best-selling Mazda here after the CX-5 and BT-50 ute.
Pulling the CX-3 off sale comes with huge risk and the local arm has genuine sway with head office in Japan, given its consistent success in Australia, so a successor cannot be ruled out based on other markets alone.
A new CX-3 may have to wait until new architecture arrives meaning a 2025 arrival.
Meanwhile, minor spec changes saw price rises in 2023 but saw the inclusion of Apple CarPlay and wireless phone charging.
However, like the 2, Australian CX-3s did not receive the latest infotainment system upgrade Japan’s CX-3 were given in December.
That’s likely to change in 2024 as the brand transitions to its newer systems.
CX-50
Mazda Australia has made no secret that the CX-50 is on its ‘wish list’.
Currently only produced in left-hand drive, the CX-50 mid-size SUV is manufactured in China and the USA.
In North America, it uses the same 2.5-litre four-cylinder non-turbo powertrain, electric motor and CVT as the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid as part of a technology sharing arrangement in North America between Mazda, Toyota and Subaru.
It’s unclear as to whether the CX-50 – if produced in right-hand drive – would be a replacement for the CX-5, or if the CX-5 will be given hybrid powertrains instead. All we know is that Mazda’s Australian outpost has been holding its hand up for the CX-50 ever since that model came into existence.
Mazda 6
The Mazda 6 was updated in 2023 with a 20th Anniversary model added to the line-up, but it may not have many birthdays remaining.
Axed from the US market in 2021, the current-generation Mazda 6 sedan and wagon has been on sale in Australia for more than a decade, with no replacement in sight – yet Mazda says it’s committed to the segment.
The Large Platform architecture underpinning CX-60 through CX-90 SUVs offered hope for those seeking a new 6, but Mazda has said the rear-drive architecture is designed for SUVs only. That also put paid to the platform being used for a rear-drive sports car, too.
So while Mazda says it’s sticking with 6, it won’t confirm a replacement, either – but a decision has to be made sooner rather than later. Our advice: if you’d like to buy a brand-new Mazda 6, you might want to expedite before it dips out of showrooms for good.
RX-7
Teased at the October 2023 Tokyo show, the stunning Mazda Iconic SP concept is a tantalising look at a potential rotary-powered hero sports car as a successor to the RX-7 and RX-8.
The red two-door hardtop was revealed with the same rotary-hybrid and electric motor drivetrain as the Mazda MX-30 RE-V but at 270kW has more than double the power.
Larger than an MX-5, heavier too – at a 1430kg goal weight – design elements pay homage to the RX-7 while 50:50 weight distribution as per the latter RX-8 is targeted, too.
While the Iconic SP concept had its combustion engine incorporated as a mere range-extending generator, a recently-discovered patent filing by Mazda reveals that the company is now considering a configuration that has a twin-rotor engine driving the rear wheels mechanically, with the assistance of an electric motor - good news for sports fans.
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