Mazda CX-50 News

Mazda has enjoyed unprecedented success in North America with the CX-50 since its 2022 release, filling a unique space in the Japanese brand’s line-up while attracting a new type of buyer with its chunky, urban-adventure crossover styling.But, despite repeated requests since the beginning of this decade for a version to be sold in Australia, the company headquarters in Hiroshima has refused permission for the mid-size SUV to be re-engineered for us.But why?According to Mazda Australia Managing Director Vinesh Bhindi, the reasons why the CX-50 has not made it here yet has to do with a lack of support from Japan and the United Kingdom.“There isn't a factory that makes it in right-hand drive (RHD),” Bhindi told CarsGuide at the unveiling of the CX-6e SUV electric vehicle in Melbourne.“We still want it, but at this stage, the answer from head office is it's not available.”However, there’s more to it than that.Mazda Motor Corporation General Manager of Global Sales and Marketing Manabu Osuga went deeper, revealing the surprising reason for the lack of desire from other big RHD markets.“RHD is the challenge,” Osuga said. “There's two other key markets, Japan and the UK, and they're not warming to it as hard as Australia. So, that's really the challenge.“The CX-50 is quite big car for both the Japanese market and the European market, especially in terms of the width, which is much wider (than other comparable small-to-medium-sized SUVs).“It's even wider than the CX-5, and is even equivalent to the CX-60 through to the CX-90 (big SUV) sizes. So, because of that, Japan is not raising its hand and the UK is not raising its hand. Only Australia is raising its hand.“So, this generation is quite a tough equation that we need to solve, it's been so successful in the USA.”That said, Osuga is optimistically taking the ‘never-say-never’ approach that one day a future version of the CX-50 will land.“But, this stage, it doesn't stop us asking,” Osuga revealed. “(Developing for RHD requires) a high-level number, but if we can prepare, like, at least 50,000 units to 100,000 units (to be sold globally in RHD), then we can… discuss about it (being imported to Australia).”Bhindi stated that he will continue to support Osuga’s efforts, adding that he will not give up on the CX-50 fight for Australia.“(It’s been a massive hit) not just in the US, but also in Canada and Mexico,” Bhindi said.“And (the CX-50) has been tailored specifically for those markets, but which may not translate to other markets around the world.“We will continue to lobby with Japan and European colleagues to say, ‘let’s have a bigger (RHD SUV)!”Essentially a stretched and rebodied version of the smaller, Mazda 3-based CX-30, the CX-50 has garnered popularity with buyers who might have otherwise considered a Subaru Outback, before the latter grew into a significantly larger SUV than it has traditionally been.This vacating of a proven market segment may open opportunities for the CX-50 to become a more-global proposition in the future.As reported, the CX-50 is made at the joint-venture Mazda and Toyota Manufacturing USA factory in Alabama, USA, next to the Toyota Corolla Cross. The two vehicles are unrelated otherwise, except for sharing Toyota’s series-parallel hybrid system, since Mazda does not as yet produce one.This might change when the expected second-gen CX-50 arrives later this decade, probably in time for Mazda’s highly-anticipated SkyActiv-Z hybrid system that promises to break new ground for efficiency and performance, in keeping with the brand’s reputation for making driver-centric vehicles.Previously, Mazda has also cited limited manufacturing capacity at the JV plant as another reason why it has not bothered with CX-50 RHD.Whether this leads to another production site outside of the USA is unknown at this stage.If this happens, Japan and Thailand (another RHD market) have been mooted in past speculative reports as contenders, along with Mexico and perhaps China.Watch this space.

The Toyota RAV4 was Australia’s favourite vehicle last month, overtaking the incumbent utes and notching up 5933 sales. The Ford Ranger (4915) and Toyota HiLux (4747) trailed Australia’s favourite SUV, with Toyota once again taking overall honours. Mazda managed to keep its head above Ford with both maintaining a solid gap back to fourth-placed Kia. It was another record-breaking July with 99,486 registrations recorded enough to beat last year’s result by 2.7 per cent. Year-to-date, sales are at 731,898 — up 7.9 per cent on last year’s record numbers.“This is a remarkable achievement in an economy featuring widespread cost of living pressures,” noted Federal Chamber of Automobile Industries (FCAI) head Tony Weber. “It was also interesting to note that while sales in the Business and Government segments were up 13.7 per cent and 37.5 per cent respectively, Private sales were down 4.2 per cent,” added Weber. Hybrid sales were also buoyant up 88.4 per cent on last year with plug-in hybrid sales up 128.9 per cent. The share of electric cars fell slightly to 6.6 per cent. “While the first seven months of 2024 have exceeded expectations, the industry remains cautious about the future pending the implementation of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard coupled with the economic conditions,” cautioned Weber.Toyota is riding the popularity of hybrid vehicles keeping its head in first place with 22,705 sales last month and climbing back to an impressive 22.8 per cent market share.The battle between Ford (57,371) and Mazda (57,023) is nail-bitingly close, the former having a slower July (7749 vs 8476) but managing to hold second place year-to-date by a slim 348 car margin. Kia remains in a strong fourth followed by Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Isuzu, MG, Nissan and Subaru.As for models, the Corolla hatch and sedan had an extremely strong sales month with 2688 registrations with its sparring partner, the Hyundai i30 (663), nowhere to be seen as the company waits for the updated hatch to arrive (though with Kia Cerato sales up significantly to 1592). Then came the Isuzu D-Max ute, Ford Everest large SUV, the Mitsubishi Outlander and Mazda CX-5 mid-size SUVs and the MG ZS small SUV. The Toyota Kluger rounded out the top 10, beating the LandCruiser to the punch. Tesla’s sales were weaker in July with just 1353 Model Y and 1239 Model 3 registrations not enough to see either model climb into the overall top 10. By state and territory, the Northern Territory, South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia all improved their positions while the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria had small sips (less than two per cent). Sales in Tasmania were down 12 per cent.

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