Mazda News

CarsGuide’s data analytics team has crunched the numbers to find out how well popular mid-sized SUVs hold their value. This insight means you can buy a new car now knowing it’ll likely be a resale winner when the time comes to sell it.

Mazda has finally begun spilling on its incoming CX-5 Hybrid, revealing what it will be called, when it will be unveiled, and where it will be positioned in the lineup.

One of Toyota Australia’s top executives has called an end to the dual-cab dominance at the top of the Aussie sales charts.Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations, Sean Hanley, told CarsGuide earlier this year a ute was unlikely to be the best seller moving forward.The Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux have sat on top of the podium for about a decade, but the influx of new ute models this year will likely close that chapter.“We already know that the number of ute models available to Australian buyers will expand rapidly. They’ll be competing for an overall ute market that is likely to remain steady, which suggests that the average sales per model will come down as a result,” said Hanley.“It may be, and I stress maybe, that an SUV could rise to the top of the national sales charts in the next year or two, and just maybe that SUV will be a Toyota RAV4 Hybrid,” he said.The Toyota RAV4 seems like the obvious candidate for the top spot, after finishing second overall last year and in pole position after one month in 2025.Except, a new challenger is looming, which will pour fuel on an old rivalry.A new CX-5, which might not be called CX-5 but CX-40 instead, is in the works and it will be powered by new hybrid technology developed in-house by Mazda.The CX-5 and the RAV4 have historically gone toe-to-toe for the crown of the most popular SUV for the best part of a decade.Only recently has the RAV4 put several lengths on the CX-5, mainly due to the Mazda’s lack of hybrid power that has become a must-have item in the mid-size family SUV.A recent patent revealed the details of how the CX-5’s new hybrid tech works. No surprise it works a lot like the Toyota tech but with one small difference.What is unique about the Mazda patent is the position of the control module that tells the electric motors what to do. It is situated right on top of the e-motor, meaning no need for heavy cables. It also keeps the set-up nice and compact, which aids in packaging.Mazda has yet to reveal its reworked CX-5, but digital renders have been popping up online with the vehicle keeping its look inline with the brand's range of larger SUVs, such as the Mazda CX-60, CX-70, CX-80 and CX-90.Toyota isn’t taking this challenge lying down, though.The carmaking giant is preparing a new RAV4 that will move the goalposts even further ahead.It will bring new styling that mimics the look of the new Camry and C-HR with its crimped bonnet and Lexus-like lower grille.It is also expected to have hybrid, plug-in hybrid and even full electric options, according to Japanese publication BestCar.The hybrid version is expected to use the same set-up as the new Camry sedan, which means either 168kW in front- or 173kW in all-wheel-drive guise.A plug-in-hybrid version is vital for the brand to navigate Australia’s new emissions regulations, as a standard hybrid won’t meet the CO2 threshold in a few years time.The battery version is expected to take the place of the slow-selling bZ4X, with a RAV4 name expected to bring much more cache to the brand’s mid-size EV.If you are in the market for a hybrid mid-size family SUV, it’s going to be an interesting next 12 months.

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

Mazda has vowed to focus on customers, not the incoming government-mandated efficiency standards, but admits it has plans for more hybrids and electric vehicles before the end of the decade.With the New Vehicle Efficiency Standards (NVES) coming into effect on January 1 of this year, Mazda and other brands are now required to meet an average emissions target for their fleet of models sold in Australia or face financial penalties. However, the car industry has negotiated some leeway, with higher targets for 2025 and ‘26 and fines only applicable from July 1.The introduction of NVES is meant to push car makers to offer more fuel-efficient models to customers but with a clear incentive to offer electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid powertrains.Despite the government’s prerogative for more EVs, Mazda currently has now electric cars in its showrooms and no confirmed plans to re-introduce one in the immediate future. Instead the brand’s local boss, managing director Vinesh Bhindi, says customer preference will come first and the company will worry about complying with the NVES targets after.“ So, this efficiency standard, I suppose you can look at it from a couple of points of view,” Bhindi told CarsGuide. “One point-of-view is, do you comply to a standard? Or alternatively, which is where our position is, provide customers what they want. And that's where we're going to focus.“The compliance of the efficiency standard. Yes, we look at and yes, we map out our pathway on how in the end we have to reduce CO2 or carbon - that's the ultimate objective. Compliance off it is a pathway there. So our focus at this stage is the customer will decide what technology they want. The customer will decide how quickly they would like to move to a different technology and we would like to continue to provide what the customer wants.“Now there is a small but growing customer base as you have seen. It's stagnated a bit on battery EVs but there's a very clear trend on hybridization. We have in our portfolio plug-in hybrids, we have mid-hybrids, the next generation CX-5 will have full hybridization. So our plan is to continue to offer those technologies as the customer says ‘that's where I want to be.’ And we’ll have battery EVs as well, by the way.”While other brands have made a clear and early move towards EVs, the slowing sales growth has seemingly justified Mazda Australia’s position not to dive into that market. Asked if the cooling off of EV interest had justified Mazda’s approach, Bhindi dismissed the notion and pointed out many other brands were driven by EV-centric regulations in Europe and China - two smaller markets for the brand.“You remember some of these brands made decisions based on their home country requirements by regulation, mainly Europe, mainly China, where this technology is a lot more mandated, if I can say those words,” he said. “So they needed that technology for their customers in other regions.“We look at it from an Australian point-of-view. Yes, there's a small percentage of customers who are early adopters of new technology. And yes, we currently don't have an exact offering for them, but it's only a matter of time.”However, that doesn’t mean Mazda intends on ignoring the EV market and there are plans for more hybrids, plug-in hybrids and EVs by the end of the decade — even if Bhindi stopped short of confirming when Australians can expect these models.“ Without naming which models, which cars and exact timing, we will have multiple battery EVs before the end of 2030,” he revealed. “Earlier, but I can't tell you when we'll have next generation CX-5 with hybrid and much more in terms of hybridization and plug-in hybrid technologies between now and the end of the decade.”

Mazda is set to drop its most successful nameplate — the CX-5 — but that won’t stop it taking the fight to the Toyota RAV4, Kia Sportage and Mitsubishi Outlander in the highly-competitive mid-size SUV market.

With its continued success on the sales charts as a noble Toyota RAV4 Hybrid challenger, the Mazda CX-5 has managed to mask its age well.

Mazda is continuing to tick off the number of right-hand drive markets where the electric 6e sedan will launch, despite the Tesla Model 3 and BYD Seal rival remaining unconfirmed locally.

Mazda won’t go on a Raptor hunt.The Japanese brand recently revealed its updated BT-50 range and noticeably absent was its previous Ranger Raptor competitor, the flagship Thunder or SP Pro special editions. Instead, Mazda Australia has introduced a wide range of genuine, dealer-fit accessories for off-roading that customers can add directly at purchase. These include an integrated bull bar, roof platform, Light Force spot lights, dual battery set-up and more. It is also packaging some of these accessories up to make it easier for buyers to customise their ute for off-road adventures without going to the aftermarket.Still, the launch of the new BT-50 range with the SP model as the flagship does leave the brand lagging behind the likes of the Ford Ranger Raptor, Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior and the new Isuzu D-Max Blade - which shares its underpinnings with the BT-50.Mazda Australia managing director, Vinesh Bhindi, defended the decision not to introduce a new ‘hero model’ and instead focus on individual customisation for buyers.“I know others are calling it different names, but it's more of a cosmetic treatment, right?” Bhindi said. “So it's not a performance package, and we think  it's better to give our customers choices with a larger variety of accessories, which they can create their own customisation. “So in the previous model, we've had Thunder, Thunder Pro, SP Pro, those things are where we will go, rather than a third party.”Notably in that comment, he didn’t rule out bringing back a special name for a future hero BT-50, so the door remains open for Mazda to offer a more direct Raptor/Warrior/Blade rival in the future.“At some point we will consider it,” Bhindi admitted. “So at the moment, SP is our hero, with the latest one, and it's got a  lot of new cosmetic changes to it so that's our starting point, and at some point we will consider Thunder or SP Pro, but all those accessories, all those items are available via the accessory catalog anyway from day one.” Mazda Australia introduced the original BT-50 Thunder in 2022, two years after the latest generation of the ute launched, and then added the Thunder Pro in 2024 as part of the run-out plan ahead of this new facelifted model.

Utes are Australia’s most popular type of vehicle, but which models offer the best resale value when the time comes to selling them? CarsGuide’s analytics team crunched the numbers so that we could bring you this exclusive report.