Wanted! Spunky Mazda CX-50 still a chance for Australia to take on Toyota Corolla Cross, Subaru Forester Wilderness and other chunky SUVs and crossovers

Mazda has reaffirmed its interest in the CX-50 for Australia, stating that there is space for an “adventure” focused third mid-size SUV to sit alongside the best-selling CX-5 and imminent, more-upmarket CX-60.

However, with no confirmation as yet of right-hand-drive production and with the North American plant still cranking up production for the US and Canadian markets in which it was specifically designed for, there is still no guarantee that the CX-50 will make it to our shores.

Speaking to CarsGuide last week in Melbourne, Mazda Australia marketing director, Alastair Doak, reiterated his desire for the CX-50, refuting the critics who suggest that the company’s SUV line-up is becoming too broad or complicated.

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“You know us, we’re always greedy for product,” he joked. “It’s very true, we have the broadest portfolio of product… (but) the CX-50 would be an interesting addition to our line-up. 

"It probably wouldn’t be a huge seller, but that’s OK. You know we like niche product. If it adds appeal to the brand and brings new people to the Mazda camp, then great.

“The CX-50 would be nice to the range, but it’s not available to us at the moment. They’re just building up their production in the US and it’s all allocated to North America, which makes sense. But who knows down the track.

“We’ve certainly made our position clear that if it was available to us, we’d love to explore the business case properly, rather than just saying ‘yeah, that looks interesting and I think it would work’.”

Right now, the CX-50 is built at the joint-venture Mazda-Toyota Manufacturing USA factory in Huntsville, Alabama, alongside the North-American-market Toyota Corolla Cross in which it is unrelated to.

What may help the CX-50’s case for Australia is another production site somewhere else in the world, such as in Japan or Thailand or even in Mexico, to alleviate the US plant’s production pressures, though there is no word on that happening either for now.

“That’s not part of the plan I believe,” Mr Doak said. “It’s to be built in the US. You could source it from there (I guess)." 

However, he added that importing models from far-flung countries is no longer the issue it once was. 

"But then, you know they export stuff from the Mexico plant to Europe and other things like that," Mr Doak said. "Things have moved on from way-back-when, but at the moment the expectation is that the US and North America will soak up all of that production, and then go from there.

“It’s in the back of our minds. Mazda HQ (in Hiroshima, Japan) know our interest. But it’s not a priority.”

Asked if Mazda could sell CX-5, CX-50 and CX-60 all in the same market, Mr Doak said he couldn’t understand why it would not be possible.

“Yes, I can’t see why not,” he said. “The US will certainly have CX-5 and CX-50 in the same market, and they’re probably the closest cars in terms of size. CX-60, which isn’t going to the US but is coming here obviously, is a bigger car with a completely different package with rear-wheel drive and the engines that it’s got, and will sit above CX-5, and so there’s very clear differentiation between those models.

“And CX-50, it’s more of a mainstream car in the US, but for here it would be more of a niche product.”

Despite their broadly similar appearances, the CX-50 is not based on the current CX-5 as some people may assume, but is in fact on Mazda’s New Small Car Architecture unveiled in late 2018 in the latest (BP-series) Mazda3 small car, and since then underneath the popular CX-30 and oddball MX-30 SUVs.

Compared to CX-5, the CX-50 is substantially longer, wider and a little taller, with a longer wheelbase. It offers a beefier stance and more aggressive off-road evoking styling cues, like squared-off and blacked-out wheel arches and more rugged front and rear air diffusers.

As a result, Mr Doak explained that the CX-50 is different enough to the CX-5 visually and architecturally to work as its own, separate model with minimal cannibalisation of sales.

“CX-50 runs on the new-generation small-car architecture, while the CX-5 is on the previous-generation (platform), so that makes it fundamentally different from the start,” he said. “And within that there would be packaging differences straight up.

“So, yes, it’s obviously been designed size-wise to American tastes and all those things, and it’s gone down more of that design cue off-road adventure type of vehicle, and that gives it quite a different flavour.

“The vehicle has been designed for that market with lots of input for that market, and hopefully it ends up being incredibly successful.

“The chances (of Mazda Australia importing it right now) are pretty slim, but you never know.”

Do you think there is space for the CX-50 to sit alongside the CX-5 and new CX-60? Let us know in the comments section below.