First Look: 2023 Mazda CX-50

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If you love the great outdoors, but your weekday reality is the city, Mazda has the vehicle for you. It’s just taken the wraps off the 2023 CX-50, which it’s advertising as an “outdoor crossover” that’ll effortlessly take you to the campsite, as well as across urban pavement.

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It’s an entirely new model that will be sold in North America only, and the first built at a new plant in Huntsville, Alabama that Mazda shares with Toyota. Mazda’s reps say the CX-50 shares no components with any Toyota model, other than a couple of paint colours. CX-50 production begins early in 2022, with vehicles arriving in early spring.

The wraps came off the all-new vehicle in an international video presentation, but due to COVID-19 restrictions in various areas, only those of us at a Toronto event got to see the CX-50 in the flesh.

It’s tempting to think of this as a CX-5 with more ground clearance – similar, say, to what Subaru has done with its new Wilderness version of the Outback – but that’s not the case. The CX-50 is built on Mazda’s new “small” platform, which also underpins the Mazda3 and CX-30. The current CX-5 rides on older architecture, and while company reps won’t confirm, it makes sense that a next-gen CX-5 would likely move to this platform too.

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It’s a bit longer than the CX-5, with most of that extra length dedicated to cargo space. It’s also wider, but its roofline is lower. Roof rails are standard, and a roof carrier is one of numerous off-road-y accessories that’ll be available. The rear doors open very wide, and with that lower roofline, you’ll be able to step up to access items.

Very little technical information was revealed, other than that the CX-50 shares engines with the CX-5. Those are a 2.5L naturally-aspirated four-cylinder, making 187 horsepower and 186 lb-ft of torque; or a turbocharged 2.5L, making 250 horsepower and 320 lb-ft of torque if you spring for premium fuel (it’s 227 hp and 310 lb-ft on regular-grade). Both will use a six-speed automatic transmission, and all-wheel-drive will be standard.

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Still to come is electrification, including a conventional gas-electric hybrid. Any chance of a plug-in hybrid? Judging by the “no comment on future product” that I got, my money’s on it.

The big deal, according to vehicle dynamics engineer Dave Coleman, is that the CX-50 retains Mazda’s reputation for sporty handling no matter what surface is under the tires. Even those who camp will spend most of their time on pavement getting there, he said, and to that end, the company balanced off-road ability without compromising on-road performance.

Its new drive mode system is called Mazda Intelligent Drive Select, or Mi-Drive. The four modes are sport, normal, off-road, and towing — regarding that last one, no word on hauling capacity yet, but it’ll be “more than CX-5,” which tops out at 2,000 lbs.

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There’s only one off-road setting. Other automakers offer various modes, such as sand, mud, or ruts, but Coleman believes that’s confusing since surfaces often overlap. Instead, the all-wheel responds to what’s under the tires. Mazda uses a system called G-Vectoring Control, or GVC , which adjusts the engine’s torque as needed to put more weight on the front tires. On a smooth gravel road, where the tires can lose their grip when you turn, GVC momentarily shifts the car’s weight for a more precise turn.

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When tow mode is selected, GVC helps to offset the extra weight on the car’s back end on turns. The all-wheel also adjusts for any yaw the trailer creates.

In the appearance department, the CX-50 looks like a more rugged version of the CX-5. There’s the expected black cladding over the wheel wells and below the doors, along with a black grille surround and matte-black hood decals. The interior design is simple but handsome, and there are buttons and dials, always our favourite, to operate functions such as climate and drive modes. There’s a tablet-style infotainment screen, but it’s not touch-activated. Rather, you use a console-mounted joystick and buttons, which I find to be simple but a bit clunky.

The CX-50 will feature Mazda’s first-ever panoramic sunroof, included on the obviously top-end trim shown at the event, along with heated and cooled seats, heated steering wheel, driver assists, and camera. But so far, we don’t know trim levels, or the price. The “estimate” provided by a Mazda rep is that it’ll be priced above the CX-5, mirroring the gap between CX-30 and CX-3. Those models are around $3,000 apart, and the current CX-5 ranges from $29,200 to $42,950, so we expect the CX-50 to start around $32,000.

So does Canada need yet another off-roadable compact sport-utility? According to Coleman, it isn’t so much about the competition as about offering more to Mazda customers who want more cargo space, and driving dynamics that move effortlessly from pavement to trail. We’ll know more when we finally get behind the wheel, but for now, it looks like an interesting addition to the compact SUV market.