The new CX-5 compact crossover SUV showcases Mazda’s much vaunted SkyActiv technology for the first time.

Due in spring, the CX-5’s volume model will be priced around £23,000 and comes with considerable sales expectations in the corporate market.

Figures of 119g/km CO2 emissions and 62mpg for a 150bhp 2.2-litre diesel engine that accelerates from 0-62mph in a little over nine seconds suggest Mazda’s confidence is well founded. It already reports company fleets agreeing to add the vehicle to their lists – the first time they have offered an SUV to drivers.

The class-leading figures are competitive with many D-sector family cars, putting the CX-5 firmly in the corporate sector. It will be available in two- or four-wheel drive and manual or auto transmissions. All models will feature Mazda's fuel saving ‘i-stop' system, now with a faster reacting control system.

“It will appeal to user-choosers and means many fleets will be able to offer an SUV for the first time,” said Mazda chief operating officer Phil Waring.The CX-5 also features Mazda’s new KODO – soul of motion – design philosophy which will cascade down to other new models.

The bold styling is inspired by the rapid acceleration and turning achieved by animals like the cheetah, according to Mazda’s marketing bumpf. The philosophy is supposed to combine solidity and functionality with vitality and agility.

Every new Mazda car will now feature SkyActiv, which is based around combining efficient engines with lightweight construction and fuel-saving technology. The diesel engine is Euro6 compliant, meeting the tougher 2014 emissions regulations on NOx and other particulates without the need for additives.

Waring described SkyActiv as a “conventional solution” to the issue of CO2 emissions that will have a positive effect on residual values compared to the hybrid offerings of other manufacturers.

“The pricing guides are interested that hybrid cars are being discounted back to a standard vehicle, whereas ours is one price – that’s a unique proposition and we expect it to mean strong resivual values,” he claimed.

And further developments will see emissions reduce even further, according to Mazda.

“Only 30% of the energy produced by a combustion engine goes to the wheels. With SkyActiv it is 40%. Our belief is that we can go further,” Waring said. “This is just the introduction.”
Only once Mazda has exhausted all the possibilities with the combustion engine will it start to introduce hybrid models.

“Many hybrids are put on to inefficient, large engines,” added Mazda UK managing director Jeremy Thomson. “If we improve the base technology, then we can put hybrid on. It’s not a short-term solution.”