Mazda fights back with next generation of CX-5

What do you do when you are faced with the most challenging times for automotive manufacturers in the past 100 years?

You launch a new model of course. Well, if not entirely new, certainly the latest generation of a stalwart – oh, and you get it to run on 100 per cent bio-fuel made from agricultural and food waste just to add to the mix.

So what’s the problem with this crazy epoch? Well, fuel prices go up and down like the pants of a potty training toddler.

So one minute we shy away from the demand-a-king’s-ransom-for-a-tank pumps and veer off towards electric vehicles. Then we realise that at 80p kW/h public chargers make EVs even more expensive.

Then we have established western manufacturers charging a small fortune for product, being closely followed by Korea, after which there lands a veritable boatload of excellent vehicles from China, cars with genuine merit that are more affordable than ever – and why not, that’s the free market for you.

Fighting back comes Japanese brand Mazda with the latest variant of the ubiquitous CX-5.

The model has been kicking round since 2012 and surprisingly has only been through two previous incarnations, which together sold 4.5 million worldwide.

Welcome, then, to gen III, the latest iteration of the CX-5, the first of three new models from Mazda this year. Expect to see Mazda6e and CX-6e in the showrooms this year as well.

While the world continues to umm and ahhh about EVs, CX-5 is firmly in the petrol camp with a 2.5 litre petrol mild hybrid.

Run it on biofuel and emissions are reduced by 90 per cent and the more people who do so the cheaper the liquid fuel will become.

From the front the Mazda is recognisably CX-5 but that’s ok because it is a fine looking SUV. The tail has changed quite a bit and is better for it.

New CX-5 comes in four specs and in front and all-wheel-drive forms. Prices start at just £31,550 which feels like a bit of a bargain given the supreme build quality of the Mazda.

And the new CX-5 does ooze exemplary build. All the surfaces have that upmarket sheen you come to expect with Mazda; you just can’t help feel good about yourself in its glorious cabin.

Mazda designers have succumbed to the global obsession with touchscreens – so no centrally mountain mouse this time – and sure enough one dominates the fascia.

Fortunately, there are two important buttons on the dash for front and rear demist. The rest of the gubbins I set before driving off then leave it all alone and the door mirror controls are on the doors, where you’d expect.

Inside, the cabin is light, tactile, pleasant on the eye and very spacious. You can’t ask for more than that.

On the road the CX-5 is firmer than I would have imagined but rides well. The all-wheel-drive handles better, as it should, and controls the body in a more damped way through the twists and turns.

The 2.5 litre motor works away in the background without being intrusive and offers reasonable amounts of power – overtaking isn’t a problem. It’s only a mild hybrid so economy loiters just under the 40MPG mark.

A full hybrid would be great. Perhaps they could chat with their chums at Toyota (think Yaris/Mazda2 tie-up).

Apparently, pre-orders for the new CX-5 are unprecedented and there is no reason to think it won’t be the same here.

These are difficult times for manufacturers as they tiptoe around economy-wrecking megalomaniacs and environmentalists so Mazda has concentrated on what it does best and produced another high quality SUV.