If the SUV market wasn’t already saturated enough, Mazda is popping another option into its fleet soon, called the CX-70. Aside from overlapping with the CX-60 and CX-90, it is essentially a five-seat version of the CX-90.
In 2023, Mazda Australia delivered 100,008 vehicles, nationally, according to VFACTS. Mazda’s current fleet includes 13 different model lines, although, the CX-8 and MX-30 are being retired and the CX-9 isn’t far behind. Out of those 13 model lines, 8 of them are SUVs, and they made up 66,041 of the total sales. Or, 66 per cent.
Now, of those, the CX-60 made up 2779 sales and the CX-90 made up 603. However, these were launched in the second half of the year, so they didn’t get a chance to properly reflect market trends for the brand.
With the CX-70 slipped somewhere between the CX-60 and CX-90, it would be reasonable to expect demand to fall somewhere between these two. Although, the CX-70 will be more expensive than the CX-60 so an expected sales figure might be skewed more towards the CX-90.
Since the CX-70 is pretty much a CX-90 without seven seats, it will be a very specific niche Mazda is chasing with the new model. According to Mazda Australia’s managing director, Vinesh Bhindi, the CX-70 will ‘facilitate new life experiences’ – compared with any other SUV it offers? He said:
“The CX-70 is a unique expression of our customers’ interests and stands out on its own as a highly compelling option, facilitating new life experiences and rewarding those wanting to experience the joy of driving. It also offers a wider breadth of choice within our Large Product range, skilfully meeting the diverse needs of our market.”
If you can get past that drivel and simply take it for what it is, the CX-70 will come with Mazda’s interesting new 3.3-litre inline-six petrol and diesel engine options, and offer more boot space than the CX-90’s 608-litre capacity (with the third row folded down).
We suspect the CX-70 will also be a bit lighter, potentially benefiting driving dynamics and lowering the centre of gravity. Mazda also confirms the CX-70 will offer a braked towing capacity of 2500kg (same as petrol CX-90), so it can tow an original Mazda Cosmo.
The CX-70 has been confirmed for Australia. An arrival date hasn’t been locked in yet, but we’d expect it some time in the next 12 months or so.
