Is Mazda about to make a big mistake? And what it can learn from the Holden Commodore and Nissan Tiida as history tells us about the importance of a name like the Mazda CX-5 | Opinion

When is a Mazda CX-5 not a Mazda CX-5?

That would be when the car company openly considers changing the name of its most popular model in Australia. The Japanese brand has confirmed that it has a CX-5 replacement coming soon, but worryingly it may not have the same badge.

Just in case you’ve missed it, Mazda has switched from its single-digit ‘CX-’ models to double-digits (CX-30, CX-60, etc) and so it makes sense they would want to bring the CX-5 inline with that. Except, it’s a terrible idea that history has proven, repeatedly, is a bad idea.

Don’t believe me? Ask Nissan how successful the switch from Pulsar to Tiida was. That saw one of Australia’s most popular small cars become an also-ran and even a return to the Pulsar name couldn’t save it from oblivion.

Or how about Holden’s decision to apply the Commodore nameplate to the fully-imported Opel Insignia? That turned out to be a major mistake that contributed to the entire brand’s demise.

Hyundai got forced to change the popular Tucson to ix35 and Sonata to i45, but thankfully was able to change both back to the names that Australians knew and understood.

Australian car buyers are smart and savvy, we cannot be fooled or tricked, so playing the name game and hoping we won’t notice is a big mistake car companies repeatedly make.

To be fair to local executives, they tend to be forced into these kinds of changes. Certainly that was the case with the Tiida, with Nissan Australia making it clear, off the record of course, that they weren’t in favour of the change and had tried to warn head office.

Mazda appears to be in the same position, although the decision to refer to the upcoming new model as the “CX-5 replacement” and refuse to even hint at the new name or even confirm it will have one suggests that there’s still a glimmer of hope for the current name to stick around. Given Mazda Australia’s strong global position — we’re typically one of the top four markets in the world for the brand — it may give more leverage to buck the global trend and stick with the already accepted and popular name.

Awkwardly, the most likely alternative for the CX-5 would be CX-50, but that badge is already taken by one of the very few Mazda models we don’t get in Australia. Instead, the only other round double-digit numbers are 10 and 40, and as we can rule out the smaller number, CX-40 seems like the most logical candidate for a new name — if one must be taken.

Looking at the positive side, Mazda has a history of dramatic naming changes, when I was younger it offered the 121, 323, 626, etc and then decided to switch to Mazda2, Mazda3, Mazda6 and so on, before introducing the CX-5 range and, to be candid, those name changes all worked wonders for the brand's image.

But changing CX-5 to CX-40 (or something else) would still be a major risk for Mazda in the ultra-competitive medium SUV market. The Toyota RAV4 is going strong, as are the Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson and Mitsubishi Outlander — all established, unchanging names.

Whatever it’s called, I wouldn’t expect Mazda’s new mid-size SUV to suffer the same fate as the Tiida or Commodore, but it will require a major marketing and media blitz to ensure that you all understand the clear.