Mazda will introduce a new compact SUV next Monday, November 15. It’s called the CX-50, and it can carry a touring kayak through the woods. That’s about all we know so far.
Mazda teased the vehicle this week with a brief video published to Instagram, taken from far away, as it passes through a forest carrying a lovely wooden touring kayak. In brief glimpses through tree trunks, we get the impression it’s…maybe…grey?
The Japanese automaker has revealed enough about its product strategy for us to make some educated guesses about what’s coming. One clue is that the CX-50 is a product of the new Mazda Toyota Manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Alabama. That facility produces the recently introduced 2022 Toyota Corolla Cross.
An Outdoor Enthusiast’s Mazda?
In an announcement last month, Mazda previewed three new SUVs, all set to arrive by 2023. The CX-50, they said, would be the first of the bunch. It shares a platform with the smaller CX-30 and Mazda3. It will likely come standard with Mazda’s i-Activ AWD system.
The arrival of the CX-50 doesn’t mean the CX-5 is on the way out.
From the teaser, it looks as though Mazda may position the CX-50 as more of an outdoor enthusiast’s vehicle than anything in its current lineup. While it doesn’t look to be driving off-road, it does appear under the tagline “there is always a new terrain.” That may hint at a terrain management system that allows drivers to select for different surfaces – something that Mazda has not offered on a compact SUV in the past.
A Mazda web page advertising the CX-50’s debut mentions “enhanced all-wheel-drive capabilities and functionality for consumers with outdoor active lifestyles” but offers no details.
We’ll know more after Monday. Then, attention should turn to the expected CX-70 and CX-90 SUVs that will join it in the Mazda lineup.
