The Mazda CX-5 small crossover—previously seen as the Minagi concept earlier this year—will be unveiled at September’s Frankfurt auto show. (Well, at least the Euro-market version pictured here will be; our model should differ only slightly, if at all.) It will be the first Mazda to wear the company’s new Kodo styling language, which replaces the current, smile-intensive Nagare theme.
The CX-5 retains virtually all of the Minagi’s styling cues and body lines, and the look is nicely tailored and well executed. But stripping away the show-car glitz—specifically the aluminum-look accents to the grille, fog-light surrounds, and window line, and the shiny, black-painted molding—makes the final product look, well, bland and a bit less upscale in comparison.
Peeking inside, however, we find reason to get excited. The cabin is rich looking, with a very simple and well-laid-out design, and we especially like the uncluttered center stack. Expect to see an available navigation system that’s controlled by a console-mounted rotary knob and possibly a multifunction display located in the right-most section of the instrument cluster.
In Europe, the CX-5 will be offered with Mazda’s new Skyactiv-G 2.0-liter gasoline engine and Skyactiv-D 2.2-liter diesel in multiple iterations with various outputs. Both automatic and manual transmissions are on the menu, likely also of the Skyactiv variety. (The term is being widely applied to Mazda’s efficiency-minded powertrain components.) In the U.S., the Skyactiv-G will be installed in the 2012 Mazda 3, making 155 hp and 148 lb-ft of torque, and the company says it’s still on track to bring a diesel engine to our shores in 2012. While there’s no official word yet from Mazda confirming that the diesel will come in the U.S.-spec CX-5 and not the 3 or 6, we fully expect to see both engines available in our version, albeit each in a single tune, when it arrives next year.
Thanks to: Car and Driver
