Toyota RAV4 hybrid has exposed Mazda CX-5's weakness, and Hyundai Tucson, Ford Escape and Nissan X-Trail could capitalise

The CX-5’s reign as Australia’s favourite SUV is over, knocked off its perch by Toyota’s fifth-generation RAV4 and in the process exposing a critical weak spot in the much-loved Mazda.

That weakness, it seems, is a lack of hybrid engine.

August sales figures reveal that 4825 RAV4s were sold in Australia for the month, but 91.3 per cent – or a sizeable 4405 units – were hybrids.

This means the RAV4 hybrid outsold the popular Ford Ranger (2935), Mazda CX-5 (1884), Toyota Corolla (1464) and Hyundai i30 (1429) to take out the top spot in August.

However, the RAV4 hybrid’s popularity has long been documented since the car launched in Australia in May 2019, with wait times blowing out by as much as eight months since it touched down on local soil.

The pent-up demand for the new RAV4 means this will be the first year since the Mazda CX-5’s introduction in 2012 where it won’t wear the top-selling mid-size SUV crown.

Second place is certainly nothing to scoff at, especially for a brand that focuses on private sales over fleet, but the year-to-date sales drop of 22.8 per cent – and a nearly 11,000-unit gulf between the CX-5 (13,830) and RAV4 (24,678) – is certainly noticeable.

But things might get tougher for the CX-5 before they get better, as its key rivals Ford, Hyundai and Nissan prepare hybrid versions of the Escape, Tucson and X-Trail respectively to release in the short-term future.

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Toyota RAV4 Hybrid outsold Mitsubishi, Ford, Volkswagen, Nissan and most other brands in August 2020

Ford will opt for the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle route, with its new-gen Escape PHEV due to touch down later this month at $52,940 before on-road costs, while Hyundai will reveal its refreshed Tucson next week with an expected hybrid engine to launch next year.

Nissan’s X-Trail is the furthest away, with a launch on the cards in late 2021, but will make use of the brands e-Power mild-hybrid technology that uses a small petrol engine to charge an electric motor to spin the wheels.

Mazda’s answer to the renewed competition? Rumours indicate the brand will come to market with a 48-volt mild-hybrid Skyactiv-X set-up in 2023, which will pair its innovate sparkless ignition tech with a potent six-cylinder petrol engine.

Power and torque figures are said to be 220kW/345Nm, while fuel economy is kept to a small 6.6 litres per 100km.

The technology may differ from the RAV4 – which pairs a 2.5-litre petrol engine with one or two electric motors in FWD and AWD guise respectively – but Mazda is no doubt hoping the lower fuel consumption figures can tempt buyers back into its stylish CX-5 – or CX-50 as some rumours suggest it will be called.

Read More About Mazda CX-5

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For reference, the current CX-5 is available with four engines options, a 2.0-litre petrol, 2.5-litre petrol, 2.5-litre turbo-petrol and 2.2-litre turbo-diesel – the latter one of the only remaining oil-burning options in the class.

Time will tell whether Mazda can claw back its top position, but it has become clear that Australian families are ready to embrace hybrid powertrains en masse, and the CX-5 has some catching up to do.