Mazda's two-prong assault on the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid: New CX-5 to join CX-60 in battle for SUV supremacy

The Mazda CX-60 won't replace the mega-popular CX-5, with both mid-size SUVs to fight side-by-side against rivals like the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. 

That's the word from Yasuhiro Aoyama, Mazda's Director and Senior Managing Executive Officer, who visited Australia for the launch of the new Mazda CX-60 SUV, which will officially land in local showrooms next year.

The new and all-electrified (thanks to mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid tech) SUV will enter a new price bracket, with the CX-60 starting at $59,800 and climbing to $87,252, before on-road costs.

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But fears Mazda's new and premium-focused model range, designated by the "0" at the end of their names, would replace the brand's traditional, and more affordable, models are unfounded, with Mr Aoyama not only confirming the importance of the CX-5 currently, but also confirming it would be replaced "in the future".

"The CX-5 keeps the largest customer base, even from a global perspective, so we need to appropriately take care of the requirements of their replacement in the future," Mr Aoyama said.

"But we have just introduced the minor refresh facelift for the CX-5, so taking that into consideration, we will set the appropriate timing of a major refresh for CX-5."

Mr Aoyama wouldn't be drawn on specific timings for a major update to CX-5, other than to say Mazda was keeping a close eye on the model's competitors to ensure their mid-size heavyweight would remain competitive. 

"We carefully monitor the customer demand and the competitiveness among that segment, and that will set up the appropriate time of a major refresh," he said.

The Mazda CX-5 is a super important model to Mazda in Australia, and a major contributor to the brand locking out second position on the country's best-selling brands list over the first 11 months of the year.

The CX-60 will be Mazda's first PHEV model.

By the close of November, Mazda had recorded just over 87,000 total sales. The CX-5 was by far the biggest seller in the brand's range, recording 25,425 sales – up from 22,820 sales to the same point in 2021.

It means the CX-5 makes up nearly 30 per cent of Mazda's total sales, which is not something the brand is keen to walk away from, even with a new CX-60 poised to land in Australia. 

"We're about to introduce another update as well, with Mazda Connect across the range, USB-C and wireless car play," Mazda Australia marketing director, Alastair Doak, told CarsGuide. "So we continue to evolve CX-5 and we'll continue to do that. 

"Every product goes through a product cycle, and obviously globally it's number one for Mazda. Everybody knows how important it is to the brand and we'll continue to invest in it, but will we see CX-5 go into the future? Absolutely. 

"It's here for the long term."