2016 Mazda Mazda5 Reviews

A traditional sports car is a lot like the barfly at your local pub - it consumes a hell of a lot more, and is a lot louder than pretty much anything within a one kilometre radius. 

We know the next-gen Mazda CX-5 is coming. What it will be called, its powertrain offering and underpinnings remain a mystery, though. 

One of the most affordable and popular seven-seat family SUVs available in Australia is about to be pulled from the market.

It’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of new-model releases. Lately, product cycles have been getting ever shorter with China in particular’s immense speed of design, development and production eschewing traditional carmakers' usual six, seven or eight-year model replacements.But that doesn’t mean everyone wants the latest and greatest and, in Australia, there remains a huge appetite for familiar nameplates like the Mazda CX-3, MG3 and Nissan Patrol despite fresher models being available in the same class. In fact, until this year, the now nine-year-old Toyota HiLux has dominated sales charts. It’s taken the ‘T6.2’ Ford Ranger over a year to usurp Toyota’s ute despite its much newer cabin, more powerful engines and fresher tech. Even still, the Ranger held a slim 210 sale margin over the HiLux in May. It’s a little easier to imagine how ute buyers – those after a dependable, rugged vehicle with less concern for the latest and greatest – might be less interested in buying the newest model.Though the media expected the CX-30 to become Mazda’s new entry-level SUV, the plan all along was to sell them side by side. At 10 years old, the CX-3 is no spring chicken any more yet with 1300 sales in may it remains firmly ahead of the Yaris Cross and Hyundai Venue in the light SUV class. It is, amazingly, still more popular than the CX-30 (1010 sales in May) as well. Entry-level Pure leads the way as a first-car option that is bigger than a Mazda2 but not unwieldy. Safety features like AEB and collision warning feature and the CX-3 is a known quantity for both reliability and parts availability. MG is finally replacing the MG3 as it celebrates its 13th year on sale – such age is very rare in cars from China. In its final 31 days in dealerships as a ‘new’ model, 1077 MG3s were registered. This puts it leagues ahead of the Mazda2 and Toyota Yaris. The same vintage Mitsubishi ASX may not be quite as popular as a CX-3 (842 sales in May) though like the others in this list, the ASX is having a bumper year of over 5000 sales – up nearly 30 per cent on 2023. Nissan sold 622 Patrol off-roaders last month for 3274 year-to-date. That may be less than half of Toyota’s LandCruiser 300 Series volume but when you consider the basic design is 14 years old (and therefore cost is long since amortised), Nissan is doing very well. Like ASX, the Patrol’s sales are up for 2024 as well, by an impressive 46.3 per cent. Put that down to demand for the new rough-and-tumble Warrior model. We couldn’t write this article and ignore the oldest car on sale today in Australia. Celebrating its 40th year in production and continuing to sell incredibly is the 70 Series LandCruiser range. An iconic vehicle for Australians who buy more of these things than any other nation – mining fleet is a huge part but a renewed popularity with the off-road crowd helps, too.Toyota’s old fourby may not get another ANCAP test any time soon but the new four-cylinder turbo-diesel will extend its sales life further as emissions regulations take hold. There were 1096 sales of the LandCruiser 70 Series in May for a total of 5030 this year, not including Troop Carrier body styles. Its enduring popularity is unlikely to end soon, either, with the new downsized diesel carrying the ageing Toyota into its next decade of sales.

Ford has overtaken Mazda in year-to-date sales following another huge month for the Ranger ute and its Everest SUV twin.

Mazda BT-50 owners can add a bit of luxe to their work ute.

One of the headline acts at last year’s Japan Mobility Show, the design of Mazda’s head-turning Iconic SP concept sports car has been registered with the Japan Patent Office, complete with retractable ‘pop-up’ headlights and twin-rotor rotary EV power.

It seems reports of the internal-combustion engine’s (ICE) death have been greatly exaggerated with confirmation overnight that Toyota, Mazda and Subaru have jointly committed to development of new-generation ICE technology “tailored to electrification and the pursuit of carbon neutrality”.

If you want to get your hands on a car that was never sold new in Australia by the manufacturer, there is only one way to get it: you have to import it.

Mazda has made a number of small tweaks to the BT-50 ute for model year 2024 including a new variant and off-road mode. There are almost no price changes beyond the high-spec BT-50 SP dual cab climbing $230 to $68,890 before on-road costs. All other variants from the $35,520 XS price leader to flagship Thunder ($74,095) remain unchanged. Until the end of this financial year, Mazda is running drive-away specials on the XT dual cab ($49,990) and SP dual cab ($64,670) for ABN holders. For 2024, Mazda has brought the practical dual cab chassis configuration to the leather upholstered GT 4x4 trim for $61,260 before on-road costs. It features LED headlights, dual-zone climate, 9.0-inch multimedia touchscreen, leather-appointed steering wheel and shifter, chrome mirror caps, heated seats with brown leather upholstery and remote start function using the key fob over the XTR trim. All 4x4 models now get a Rough Terrain Mode, which can be engaged using a button next to the shifter. To maintain traction in technical conditions, the system modulates throttle and brake inputs at low speed to intervene ‘before wheel spin can occur’. The XS and XT grades get auto relock functionality, previously reserved for XTR trims and above with advanced keyless entry. The Isuzu D-Max-related BT-50 continues a 110kW/350Nm 1.9-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder in the base XS while all other models use a 140kW/450Nm 3.0-litre '4JJ3-TCX' turbo diesel renowned for i9ts towing ability and reliability.A six-speed manual transmission is standard up to XTR with six-speed automatic optional. From GT up, all variants are auto.The small updates, drive-away prices and added off-road tech may push BT-50 sales closer to rivals such as the Isuzu D-Max and Mitsubishi Triton. So far this year, Mazda’s luxury-focused ute has found 4811 homes, ahead of the Nissan Navara and GWM Ute Cannon but behind market leaders.The changes come after Mazda dropped the BT-50 in New Zealand and then South Africa. Mazda Australia says it remains committed to the ute locally. 2024 Mazda BT-50 4x4 dual cab pick-up pricingFor full pricing visit our Mazda BT-50 price and specs page.