The upcoming rear-/all-wheel drive, inline six-powered Mazda CX-60, due here in 2022, has been spied completely undisguised.
CSK Review Channel shared a short video on YouTube of two CX-60 models being filmed on a road in Ehime Prefecture for a commercial or B-roll footage.
It’s noticeably larger than a CX-5, though it doesn’t wear a dramatically different design language.
The headlights are connected to the grille like on a CX-5, but Mazda’s shield-shaped grille is more squared off. There are also vertical cutouts in the bumper, reminiscent of a Luxury Line BMW.
The red CX-60 appears to be a sporty variant, judging by the absence of chrome.
The side sheetmetal is largely free of creases for a clean look, though the way the beltline rises sharply at the C-pillar is reminiscent of the CX-5 once again.
The footage doesn’t give us a look at the CX-60’s rear, though we don’t expect a radical departure from Mazda’s current crop of SUVs.
These CX-60s were shot from a distance, and odds are closer, higher-quality photos will better show off the new car’s different proportions.
The CX-60 is one of five new SUVs Mazda is launching by 2023, and thus far the only one confirmed for Australia.
It’ll launch here before the end of 2022.
The first to be revealed was the CX-50, a boxier, more off-road-focused mid-sized SUV for the North American market related to the CX-30.
The CX-60, CX-70, CX-80 and CX-90 will all use Mazda’s new rear-/all-wheel drive architecture and be built at the same factory in Japan.
The new SUVs will offer a range of new engines.
The company hasn’t detailed its new engines all that much, but we know one option will be a four-cylinder plug-in hybrid.
The two inline-sixes will be called the Skyactiv-X petrol and Skyactiv-D diesel. Both will have 48V electrical systems to smooth out the stop/start and add some low-end jolts of torque.
As one of Mazda’s most successful export markets, Australia has always gotten plenty of product sent its way so we don’t expect the CX-60 to be the only new SUV sold here.
Indeed, Mazda told CarExpert the CX-60/CX-70/CX-80/CX-90 were all available to us, and that it was simply deciding which ones it could make a case for.
2022 Mazda CX-5 
According to Mazda, the two-row CX-60 and three-row CX-80 are focused on markets “with narrower roads and smaller parking lots” such as Europe and Japan.
The two-row CX-70 and three-row CX-90 will have a “wide body type” according to Mazda, with a focus on markets such as North America “where larger models with a big presence are preferred”.
Mazda currently employs a similar split-market strategy for its three-row SUVs, with the CX-8 sold in markets like Asia and the CX-9 in North America. Australia, uniquely, gets both.
The CX-60 will be sold alongside the familiar CX-5 – which is getting a minor facelift for 2022 – but at a premium that pushes it towards the likes of the Lexus NX and Genesis GV70.
CX-8 
CX-9
The CX-90 has already been confirmed to directly replace the CX-9 in North America, so don’t expect Mazda’s local SUV line-up to get too cluttered.
Mazda Australia has previously indicated it won’t look at competing directly with similarly-sized BMW and Mercedes-Benz models on price.
“In Australia, there’s a clear luxury territory where the pricing reflects that, but that’s not where we are going to be. We are more about offering options but pushing towards the premium,” said Mazda Australia managing director Vinesh Bhindi.
“It is our plan to offer products that are classified as premium or seen as premium, but the value equation still needs to exist,” he said.
