It won’t be long before we get our first intimate taste of the all-new Mazda CX-5 compact SUV at its world premiere in Frankfurt, but we now have some interesting news about the North American variant, courtesy of Hideaki Tanaka, manager of the CX-5 program.
During the first press test drive event of a pre-production model, Tanaka told Autonews that the CX-5 will arrive in the States early next year, adding that while Mazda has not finalized pricing and packaging, it will likely carry a base MSRP of around $20,000, close to $3,000 less than the larger CX-7 ($22,785 with delivery).
In the U.S. the CX-5 will compete against the likes of Honda’s next generation CR-V (expected this fall), the VW Tiguan and the Hyundai Tucson.
At launch, the new compact crossover model will be offered with a modified version of Mazda’s SKYACTIV-G gasoline 2.0-liter engine, which in Europe is said to be rated 165HP and around 150 lbs.-feet of torque.
Mazda engineers told reporters during the presentation that the U.S. spec four-cylinder will likely feature a lower compression ratio (13:1 instead of 14:1) so it can run on 87 octane regular gasoline, and as a result, output may be lower.
Interestingly, an unnamed Mazda source also told Autonews that the company plans to bring a diesel version of the CX-5 over to the States. It will be equipped with the same 2.2-liter four-cylinder oil burner producing a little over 160-horsepower and 310 lbs.-feet of torque found in the European model.
Story source: Autonews [Sub.Req.]
PHOTO GALLERY
