"We don’t consider ourselves a premium brand, yet, but the CX-60 is a step towards that." That remark from Mazda Ireland's David Bannon when he introduced the new CX-60 SUV rather surprised me, writes Brian Byrne. Personally I had always considered Mazda as beyond the mainstream, at least in touching distance of premium. Style, quality, and reliability have been hallmarks of this Japanese carmaker for a long time. And though Mazda doesn't have the variety of models of, say, Audi, I would generally figure them to be in very close company with that VW-owned premium brand. Maybe there should be an interim step, the quality brand?
Anyhow, the new CX-60 does look and feel that it fits in an upper level space. It also means that you can pay premium money here now for a Mazda. The CX-60 is certainly worth a first drive report which will keep things going until I get some more significant time behind the wheel.
The style is clean and uncluttered, part of the overall ethos underpinning this latest Mazda. Its presence is not overdone, and there's no sense of implied intimidation which many SUV competitors have. The grille is unmistakably of the brand, and there's interesting detail in the front lights treatment. Some subtle shaping of the roofline and side sheetmetal offers a sense of strength. The rear lights and tailgate design are distinctive without interfering with the overall style narrative.
It's the same when you sit inside. The company says the aim was to 'declutter' the controls and instrumentation, though previous interiors had never suffered from over-complexity anyhow. The straightforward rotary knob navigation for the centre screen is retained, though it is now an extended landscape shape and has a minimal level of touch management. The main instruments are a new digital representation of Mazda's traditional analogue styling. And yes, a step up for clarity and graphics brightness.
One of the new technologies is that the car decides what seat, mirror and other settings suit you best, depending on your height, which you key in. And for those significant other drivers in the family, instead of fiddling with preset buttons, a camera uses facial recognition to chose the settings programmed for each.
Given that the CX-60 is sized between the Volvo XC60 and Kia's Sorento, it's no surprise that there's plenty of interior space. The car is a 5-seater — there's a companion 7-seat CX-80 on the way — and has more than enough room in all dimensions for active family use. If that activity includes lugging jet-skis or a caravan, the car has a 2.5 tonne towing capability. There are four grades and a range of upgrade packs to suit a wide cohort of buyer potential.
The CX-60 launches here as a plug-in hybrid, based on a 2.5 petrol engine with an electric motor and EV driving range rated at 68 km. This will be joined later by two new inline sixes, a 3.0 petrol and a 3.3 diesel. While electrification is the flavour of the time, Mazda is staying with the policy of multi-solutions for powertrains, on the basis that there are a wide range of needs to be met.
Meantime though, the launch engine is the most powerful and most efficient powertrain that Mazda has so far made available in our part of the world. It comes with a new 8-speed automatic transmission, a literal upshift from the 6-speed autos that the company has traditionally offered. And, which will raise eyebrows in approval amongst some purist drivers, it is rear-wheel-drive.
Driving the CX-60 within the time and distance limitations of an introductory launch doesn't really offer a fair appraisal opportunity. But it did impress as being smooth and quiet, and certainly in many areas it is that step upwards which Mazda are intent on making. More when I have time to consider it in detail.
PRICE: From €54,000. WHAT I LIKED: That the brand is going to where it believes it should be.
