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No Mazda CX-5 hybrid… for now

The local arm of the Japanese manufacturer is keeping ‘mum’ about the potential for a CX-5 hybrid.

Mazda Australia has again refused to confirm nor deny whether a hybrid version of its best-selling CX-5 medium SUV is on the horizon.

Speaking to Drive at the launch of the refreshed Mazda CX-5 last week, Mazda Australia’s marketing manager Alistair Doak said the company wasn’t “really in a position to talk about that stuff”.

He did, however, leave the door slightly ajar for a Toyota RAV4-rivalling CX-5 hybrid, acknowledgng that changing consumer tastes and needs would dictate future product.

“We have to move with the times and continue to evolve the product,” Doak told Drive. “And we’re doing that. We’ve got new technology coming with the CX-60 [plug-in hybrid].

“Without being specific, we understand we need to be relevant to the market and to what people want. We’ve proven we continually update our technology and bring in new things so without answering the question (of a hybrid CX-5) specifically or even with that model, it’s not something we’re allowed to comment on.”

  • The America-only CX-50 features a hybrid system expected to be co-developed with Toyota

Mazda Australia managing director Vinesh Bhindi added that the company’s global commitment to hybrid and battery technology (Mazda has announced it will offer five hybrids, five plug-in hybrids and three battery electric vehicles by 2025) would mean the possibility remained for the best-selling CX-5 to gain a hybrid variant in its line-up.

“What models they offer it we can’t confirm,” Bhindi told Drive. “But we will be considering those drivetrains and technologies [and] what we can bring into Australia at the appropriate time.”

However, while the CX-5 will continue to be sold alongside the new, rear-wheel-drive CX-60 for the immediate future, the current-generation model is now five years old – likely past the halfway point, making it harder to recoup the investment for a costly new powertrain.

Mazda has already confirmed that its Mazda CX-50, a medium SUV with the rugged looks – and soon the hybrid power – to take on the RAV4 hybrid, won’t be making it to Australia, that model exclusive to the US and Canadian markets.

The new model will be built at a new joint-venture factory with Toyota in Huntsville, Alabama, alongside the Toyota Corolla Cross.

The post No Mazda CX-5 hybrid… for now appeared first on Drive.