The Japanese brand Mazda unveiled last week the very first model resulting from its strategy of expansion into the luxury segments.
Posted at 11:45 a.m.
The CX-60 compact SUV is the automaker’s first model built on its all-new rear-wheel-drive platform, a base material needed to ensure equal competition with German luxury brands. It won’t be offered in North America, but gives relevant technical and aesthetic previews to paint a summary portrait of the CX-70, the North American model that should look a little beefier.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY MAZDA
The Mazda CX-60 is the first model from the manufacturer built on its all-new rear-wheel-drive platform.
Adopting a design in direct line with the Kodo language that the perfect manufacturer for years, it displays similarities with the CX-5. Its much more prominent hood and its more curved shapes, however, betray its higher status.
Under the hood, this CX-60 is introduced with a plug-in powertrain that was also promised to Mazda’s North American lineup, in addition to a turbocharged inline-six. Composed of the assembly of a 2.5 L four-cylinder and a 100 kW electric motor, it has a total power of 323 hp. This makes it the most powerful Mazda model ever produced, while ensuring an electric range of 62 km, according to the European measurement protocol.
![](https://mobile-img.lpcdn.ca/v2/924x/207860dd81743011b21303fd31c3949c.jpg)
PHOTO PROVIDED BY MAZDA
The interior of the Mazda CX-60
Everything is guided by an eight-speed automatic transmission, which will enhance the refinement that is sometimes lacking in this configuration when a CVT box is used. It provides a 0-100 km / h in a very acceptable time of 5.8 s.
It is obviously still too early to know if Mazda will use this precise configuration on our land, but everything indicates that it will be the case. High development costs and the desire for standardization between markets generally take precedence.