Mazda CX-5 2016 News

SUVs and utes are hot, sedans are not — that's the message from the latest monthly vehicle sales figures.

New car sales are continuing at record pace, but there are big changes in the types of cars we are buying.

Major upset: Hyundai i30 is Australia's favourite car, beating Toyota Corolla and Mazda3.

Australians are on track to buy more SUVs than passenger cars for the first time in our motoring history.Official new-car sales figures for January show the gap between passenger cars and SUVs is the closest it has ever been.Passenger car sales were down by 11.5 per cent while demand for SUVs surged by 19.5 per cent.If the trend continues, SUVs could overtake passenger cars by the end of this year.Just 2141 sales separated the two vehicle types last month (35,214 versus 33,073); this time last year the gap between the two biggest categories was six times greater.New-car buyers kept their foot on the accelerator in January, buying 84,373 vehicles of all shapes and sizes.But Ford’s arch rival Holden dropped dramatically in January (down by 18.8 per cent, the biggest decline among the Top 10 brands) after posting a sales surge for the previous four months in a row.There were four utes in the Top 10, and they were also the top-selling models for Ford, Holden and Nissan. But Hyundai once again pushed Holden out of third place outright, after doing so for seven out of 12 months last year.Three luxury brands finished just outside the Top 10. Audi has only overtaken BMW on seven individual months in more than 50 years in Australia, including four times in 2015, and once in 2014 and 2013.Top 10 cars in January 2016Mazda3: 3722, down 4.6 per centToyota Corolla: 2758, down 20.6 per centFord Ranger: 2418, up 35.5 per centToyota HiLux: 2341, up 0.4 per centHyundai Tucson: 2065, up 26.2 per centHyundai i30: 1852, down 11.5 per centMazda CX-5: 1750, up 3.0 per centHolden Colorado: 1691, up 9.5 per centNissan Navara: 1670, up 60.5 per centVolkswagen Golf: 1606, up 4.4 per centTop 10 brands in January 2016Toyota: 12,453, down 8.8 per centMazda: 10,016, up 11.2 per centHyundai: 7001, up 1.4 per centHolden: 6824, down 18.8 per centNissan: 5563, up 22.6 per centFord: 5504, up 2.7 per centMitsubishi: 5007, up 22.7 per centVolkswagen: 4341, down 1.3 per centSubaru: 3405, up 9.7 per centKia: 3116, up 29 per centSource: Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

After a couple of record breaking years, the car industry stalled in 2014. Sales of locally built cars continued to slide as we move closer to the shuttering of the local industry.On the flip side, the SUV continues its relentless progress, accounting for one in three new vehicles sold.Well-heeled buyers treated themselves to a record number of luxury cars. Official figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show 1,113,224 new cars were reported as sold in 2014 - down 2 per cent on the previous year's record.Here's our list of last year's winners and losers.Starting at $19,990 plus on-road costs - the same price as in 1994 - the Corolla was Australia's top-seller for the second year in a row, followed closely by the Mazda3.The Toyota HiLux workhorse was next, one of three utes in the Top 10. Hyundai's i30 small car was fourth and the new Holden Commodore finished fifth despite a sales slide in the last six months.Some importers sharpened their pencils or added more features to heap pressure on the locals . The results were dramatic for some - sales of Honda's Jazz, Subaru's Impreza and Mitusbishi's ASX grew by roughly a third, with the Jeep Grand Cherokee up 28.2 per cent and the Nissan X-Trail up 17.4 per cent.Longstanding import nations Japan, Thailand and South Korea went off the boil yet sales from Europe and the United States grew strongly.SUV sales hit a new high, for the first time accounting for more than 30 per cent of the new-car market.Since 2007, annual SUV sales have grown by more than 150,000 vehicles. "The increase in SUV purchases is a reflection of the versatility these vehicles provide and the increasing range available in the market," says Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries boss Tony Weber.The Mazda CX-5 became only the second SUV in history to make the top 10. Ford's Territory cracked it once, in 2005.As mainstream brands went backwards, most luxury marques posted significant increases. Of the big three, Audi performed the strongest, up 20 per cent, while Mercedes-Benz rallied by 15.8 per cent and BMW was up 10.7 per cent. At the top end, Porsche was up by almost 50 per cent and Rolls Royce nearly 150 per cent."The prices of luxury cars have come down," Weber says, "and they have a wider array of vehicles in different segments, so they're starting to drift down into areas where they weren't historically."Australia is now in its 23rd year of economic growth...it makes a difference to people's standard of living and that's reflected in the car fleet."They're not sexy - and they've been largely left behind by a wave of seven-seat SUVs.A comeback of sorts was due almost entirely to one model, the Honda Odyssey. It's been slammed by some reviewers for its frumpy looks and less than inspiring road manners, but sales of the bigger, more practical model are up by more than 150 per cent.Toyota's Tarago enjoyed a small resurgence and the new Citroen Picasso boosted numbers.Production of locally made vehicles hit a 61-year low with just 100,468 Holdens, Fords and Toyotas sold. In 1953, the tally was 99,133 vehicles, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The bureau also provides the peak figure for the Australian car manufacturing industry, 473,045 vehicles in 1976.In 1960, more than 90 per cent of cars sold in Australia were made locally. In 2014, more than 90 per cent of cars were imported.Eight of the top 10 brands had sales slides, Hyundai and Subaru bucking the trend.The changing of the guard at the top of the charts continued, with Hyundai and Mazda closing the gap on No.2 Holden.Meanwhile, Ford posted its worst sales performance in almost 50 years and its 10th consecutive year of decline.Toyota was the market leader for a record 12th year in a row. It wasn't all good news - the Japanese giant's sales were down for the third consecutive year, 203,498 deliveries, down from a peak of 238,983 in 2008.Once tipped as the next big thing, pint-sized city runabouts hit the skids. Sales of micro cars - including the Mitsubishi Mirage, Holden Barina Spark and Nissan Micra - dropped by 30 per cent. Meanwhile diesel passenger car sales fell by 17 per cent and sales of hybrid cars to private buyers fell by 30 per cent.Australians bought 100,000 fewer passenger cars than in 2007. Eight years ago passenger cars accounted for more than 60 per cent of the market; over the past two years they have slipped below 50 per cent.Mid-sized and large sedans continue to feel the brunt of the switch to SUVs - last year for the first time baby softroaders outstripped mid-sized sedans. Falcon sales were down by more than 40 per cent. Camry sales dropped by 11 per cent.The end of the mining boom and drought in some states have stalled Australia's work utes after years of strong growth. NSW was the only market to grow in 2014, with WA, Qld and Tasmania bearing the brunt of the slowdown. Notable exceptions are Ford's Ranger and the Isuzu D-Max. More sad news for locals: Falcon ute sales dipped by 40 per cent and Holden utes by 6 per cent.Top 10 brands in 2014Toyota 203,501 -- down 5.2 per centHolden 106,092 -- down 5.3 per centMazda 100,704 -- down 2.4 per centHyundai 100,011 -- up 3.1 per centFord 79,703 -- down 8.6 per centMitsubishi 68,637 -- down 4.0 per centNissan 66,025 -- down 14.0 per centVolkswagen 54,801 -- down 0.2 per centSubaru 40,502 -- up 0.8 per centHonda 32,998 -- down 15.9 per centTop 10 cars in 2014Toyota Corolla 43,735 -- up 0.5 per centMazda3 43,313 -- up 2.9 per centToyota HiLux 38,126 -- down 4.5 per centHyundai i30 31,505 -- up 3.0 per centHolden Commodore 30,203 -- up 8.8 per centFord Ranger 26,619 -- up 22.3 per centMitsubishi Triton 24,256 -- down 1.0 per centToyota Camry -- 22,044 down 11.3 per centMazda CX-5 21,571 -- up 7.2 per centVolkswagen Golf 19,545 -- up 10.6 per cent

The unofficial annual face-off between Australian and Russian motoring journos has just taken place in Australia for the first time. And the change of location emphasised the differences between the two teams' training. The Russians sharpen their skills in the ice and snow and the Aussies hone theirs on tarmac and gravel. Russia took the trophy last year on their frozen home turf -- possibly because of our limited experience ice racing. THE CAR Mazda's mighty little roadster is a logical weapon of choice, largely because it offers the purest form of driving. In its favour are relatively light weight, rear wheel drive, conventional six speed manual transmission, sporty dynamics, adequate power that rewards driving skill as opposed to a heavy right foot. Mazda sponsors the event in that they supply the cars. This year a row of roofless roadsters presented themselves at the venue complete with roll bars, competition brake pads and racing seats with five point harnesses. Apart from that, they were bog standard MX-5s. Now you might think 118kW is a trifling amount of power to play with but we found out pretty quickly that it's all you need to get going really fast. Too fast in some cases. THE CONTEST This year, Australia won after a four discipline contest based outside Canberra that included motorkhana, skid pan, hill climb and rally. HILL CLIMB First discipline was the hill climb, a 700 metre circuit with a narrow ribbon of old tarmac threading its way across the side of a hill and into a valley below. No problem for the Mazda here and some of the times were respectable, not anywhere near as fast as "real" hill climb drivers but.... well, respectable. From the driver's seat the experience was thrilling and totally absorbing because if you make a mistake, you're off into the dongah. Tick one. MOTORKHANA Next was the motorkhana between randomly spaced flags out of one imaginary "garage", returning to another imaginary "garage" adjacent in a far under 20 seconds as possible. It was a contest in 100ths of a second so any stumble was heavily punished by the stopwatch stress levels on the redline but still an interesting challenge. SKIDPAN It was all about a delicate touch rather than bold throttle application and lurid tail-out drifting. Those who kept it all in check and didn't lose the front or rear ends achieved the best times. Challenging in the extreme. RALLY Then the main event -- the rally section in the Canberra forest on a 7km section of the national capital's rally course. Remember these were standard MX-5s on low profile road tyres with the roof off. Not a problem for the tough little roadster thanks to its rigid chassis, big brakes and sharp dynamic responses. Some of the times achieved were truly incredible for essentially a road car. That the MX-5s came through unscathed mechanically is testament to their toughness and near perfect balance of power and handling. There was absolutely no time when any more than the 118kW/188Nm output from the 2.0-litre engine was needed. The car was a handy weapon in all four disciplines thanks to its pedigree. UNEQUIVOCAL We now know unequivocally why the MX-5 is such a popular choice for enthusiasts who want a real driving experience. MAZDA MX-5 CHALLENGE FINAL RESULTS Overall Gravel Rally Motorkhana Hill Climb Skid Pan Teams  

As the world’s best-selling sports-car, the Mazda MX-5 is a favourite among weekend warriors who like to test their mettle on a race track. So what happens when you drive one on a Friday in a contrived competition among 26 motoring hacks from around the world? Well, 22 from Australia and four from Russia. Countrymen from these two old foes got together on home turf -- the nation’s capital, no less -- after the Australians were beaten two years in a row on northern hemisphere ice. First in Sweden then in Russia. To level the playing field the Russians came to Canberra last week to test their skills on dirt, and to get a taste of what it’s like to wrangle a car when the steering wheel is on the ‘wrong’ side of the cockpit. In the full spirit of the role reversal, the Russians also got to sample what it’s like to drive fast while jet-lagged. The day’s events were due to start just as their bodies would be telling them to go to sleep. In their dreams the Russians may have had visions of the vast Australian desert, or majestic beaches.  What they were greeted with was a group of friendly bearded fellows from the MG Car Club (which helped run the event), who cheerily told the assembled throng the first race of the day was in a car park around some flags positioned barely wide enough to fit a Mazda MX-5 through. It was like running a marathon around a barbecue. After that and a couple of other exercises (racing against the clock on a skidpan, and a few laps of a perilously narrow course on the side of a hill) it was time for the main event: a 6km section of a national championship rally stage in the middle of dense forest. It’s at this point the day took a serious turn (pun intended). Having sampled the course at slow speed, and noted with some interest the narrow dirt road’s close proximity to trees and cliff faces, I began to wonder if this was a good idea after all. How worried? When we got back to the regrouping point I made sure I told a couple of close colleagues how to divide my worldly possessions should the worst happen. I am not making this up. The fear was reasonably well founded. We were driving cars that had no special preparations other than a racing seat, a harness, and a rollbar that seemed to be there for show. For starters, most drivers’ heads were taller than the protection it might offer in a rollover, and it would be little to no help in a side impact against a gum tree. Or a cliff face. The cars also had no underbody protection, and no rally tyres. Mazda figured it would be cheaper to bring a truckload of spares rather than reboot every car with heavy-duty rubber. The company also calculated it would be cheaper to replace the bent bits afterwards, rather than add armour to the underside of every vehicle. And so, one by one, the cars came back with buckled rims and grazed bumpers. Some cars returned with two wheels in the shape of a capital D. Some were lucky enough to come back only with a layer of dust over them. But more importantly all cars (and drivers) came back mostly in one piece -- against the odds, and many of our private expectations. Or should that be fear? Apart from a lot of dirt behind my teeth, I came away from the experience with a new respect for the off-road ability, durability, balance and poise of the Mazda MX-5, and the gravel-grabbing ability of Bridgestone road tyres. I never want to come back to life as a tyre. There was also a renewed respect for our comrades representing global superpower Russia, who adapted brilliantly well in trying conditions. The Australians may have yielded an overdue victory but one of the Russian young guns was equal second-fastest over the perilous course, out of 26 motor noters -- 22 of which were from Australia. In other words, Australians may have outnumbered them but the Russians outpaced most of the locals. Round four anyone, somewhere near the equator perhaps? That way we’re only half as jet-lagged as each other -- and both drowning in humidity. On second thoughts… This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling  

It's easy to get into, the cabin is spacious, well-equipped and comfortable - the driver is well accommodated for as well, with most things falling easily to hand. A runaway best seller thank to its convenient size and the Mazda badge. "It's a good car, but not great. And the CR-V is a better package for its price,'' Paul Gover said at the COTY judging. The steering wheel has key controls and there's good connectivity - the touchscreen satnav infotainment screen is easy to see but it's quirky map-rotation habits were disappointing. The rear passengers will notice the lack of rear vents in summer. A rear seat 12-volt outlet wouldn't go astray either, but apart from those two issues the rear seat occupants have good leg, foot and headroom. The ride is tending towards firm but doesn't cause complaints, the payoff coming in good body control and composed road manners in the bends - the Mazda3 on stilts analogy is apt. Steady pace can be maintained by the petrol engine but it's no fireball - the genuine manual change mode of the six-speed auto makes better use of the reasonable flexibility on offer by the little four-pot. Alternatively, you can wring its neck, but that's going to take the fuel economy north of the nine litres per 100km that was returned during our stint. The little Mazda has what it takes to re-define one side of the compact SUV segment, the on-road runners. In front-wheel drive guise it's not set-up for dirt work, but the CX-5 FWD is smooth, quiet and comfortable, but it's not perfect. No rear vents is an oversight, the satnav quirk was annoying and the diesel AWD promises to be the drivetrain of choice (and worth the $5500) if you want a decent amount of grunt under your right foot. Mazda CX-5 Maxx FWD petrol auto Price: from $29,880 Engine: 2.0 litre16-valve direct-injection DOHC four cylinder with i-Stop Transmission: six-speed automatic, front wheel drive Power: 114kW @ 6000rpm Torque: 200Nm @ 4000rpm Fuel use/emissions: 6.4 l/100km, tank 56 litres 91RON; 201g/km Brakes/safety systems: Driver and front passenger airbags, front seat side/thorax, curtain airbags, stability control (Emergency Brake Assist (EBA), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Traction Control), rear camera, tyre pressure warning Dimensions: Length 4540mm, width 1840mm, height 1710mm, wheelbase 2700mm, cargo volume 403 litres, weight 1475kg Wheels/tyres: 17in steel wheels Win $5,000 in our People's Choice competition.  

The Mazda CX-5 was named ‘most beautiful car’ in the SUV, Van and All-Wheel Drive category -- ahead of the Audi A6 and Q3. About 200,000 people in Europe participated in the poll, which saw the Japanese brand’s CX-5 compact SUV take the 17.8 per cent majority against its German competition. “The CX-5’s win at the AUTO BILD 2012 European Design Awards is significant for Mazda. Europe has a strong reputation for being a global design leader and for the Mazda CX-5 to receive this level of recognition across several European markets and to beat established European competitors really speaks volumes for the company’s design direction,” Mazda Australia spokesman Steve Maciver says. “It’s clear that the Kodo: Soul of Motion design language really resonates with customers and when combined with Skyactiv technology, the CX-5 has demonstrated that it has the ability to grow the Mazda brand both here in Australia and also in other key markets such as Europe.” The CX-5 is the first production model to showcase Mazda’s Kodo design ethos, which Mazda says “combines motion with the beauty and power of nature”. The contemporary aesthetic of the CX-5 has contributed to its success in Australia, with over 8000 sold here since its March launch. This is the second time the company has won an Auto Bild title – in 2009 the Mazda3 was labelled ‘most attractive new car’ in the Small and Compact category.

Major European vehicle safety organisation Euro NCAP, has highlighted the all-new Mazda CX-5, already rated as one of the best performers in its safety tests, for being at the forefront of its drive to equip all models with life-saving autonomous emergency braking (AEB). The system is not yet available here on the CX-5.  The European New Car Assessment Program organises crash-tests and provides fleets, company car drivers and private motorists with an independent assessment of the safety performance of some of the most popular cars sold in Europe. Now the organisation has called on motor manufacturers to fit AEB as standard on all cars and says that from 2014 it will include the technology in its crash test program star rating.  Mazda's AEB system that takes over braking control if necessary, is called `Smart City Brake Support' and CX-5 is one of the few models on sale in the UK that has the potentially life-saving technology fitted as standard across the range. Typically available on more expensive luxury cars, real world performance data suggests AEB systems can reduce accidents by up to 27 per cent, according to Euro NCAP.