2026 Mazda CX-5
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A brand-new Mazda CX-5 is possibly just around the corner. These bad illustrations show what it might look like. They basically show a design that basically looks 5% new.
It is so close it looks almost like the exact same car. With a slightly revised front end. The grille seems a bit narrower and the headlights thinner. These new headlights look to be a bit better integrated into the side of the grille. Something more like the CX-50.
The current, 2nd generation, Mazda CX-5 came out in 2017. For the 2026 model year, anyone would really expect not only a brand-new design but one that doesn’t look 90% like the old one.
The ‘big deal” for the new CX-5 will be a new Hybrid powertrain. Which will be a Mazda design and not the Toyota powertrain used in the CX-50 Hybrid. I think this just means a PHEV could be available. One that might use the same PHEV system we have seen in the CX-90 and CX-70. That same PHEV powertrain that has been getting mixed reviews at best. It seems pretty rough and not really ready for primetime. It also only gets around 25 miles of EV range for a big price premium over the 6-cylinder versions.
I am not sure why Mazda would spend so much R&D money to come up with their own regular hybrid system when they’ve just started using the Toyota system on the CX-50. However, we are talking about a company that is offering 2 separate models that are actually the same (CX-70 and CX-90). Mazda has also announced the new CX-5 will use their new Skyactiv Z engines. Which includes a more efficient combustion system.
No matter what the CX-5 ends up looking like, it won’t look very new. That CX-5 design language is wearing thin after 8 years. A thinner grille and headlights might not be enough to fool potential buyers into thinking this is new.
If I recall correctly, the window glass in the spyshots seems a bit taller. And there’s a little more booty in the back (past the wheel arches). I understand Mazda not wanting to just use Toyota’s engine/hybrid drive. Mazda was the one that developed the new lightweight engine tech (new compact 1.5 and 2.0, with and without turbo) that Toyota has been saying they’re going to introduce for at least two years now , and Mazda has better transmissions – Toyota’s just feel disconnected and droney. Mazda is a real engineering-driven company focused on driving, kind of like Honda in its heydays. Honda is still engineering heavy, but…. they’ve kind of shifted focus towards efficiency and cost cutting and lost something essential in the process shortly after Mr Hondas death. But then…. the old man was something of a force of nature.