New Mazda CX-30 due by 2030 with CX-5-inspired cost-cutting measures

Katsuhiro Moro, CEO of Mazda, has revealed the second-generation CX-30 will be launched by March 2031.

In a two-part interview with Chugoku Shumbun, a newspaper based in Mazda's hometown of Hiroshima, Moro-san revealed  the next-gen small SUV will "incorporate methods used for the new CX-5", most likely its cost-reduction regime.

He was keen to emphasise the new CX-5's steel structure weighs 10 per cent less than the outgoing model despite the fact the car's length has grown by 115mm. 

In an earlier interview, Jeffrey Guyton, Mazda's chief financial officer, told Automotive News the new CX-5 includes "many, many, many" cost cuts where  customers don't "value it as much or won’t see it", including how leather is wrapped around the steering wheel and the way the stitching is done. 

The new CX-5 has also controversially dumped the company's rotary dial-controlled Mazda Connect infotainment system, and jettisoned Mazda's long-standing commitment to a full suite of physical controls for the audio and climate control system in favour a larger touchscreen. 

The CEO said such cost-cutting measures are necessary now that Mazda is in "survival mode" thanks to the ongoing war in the Middle East, rising raw material prices, and the jump in tariffs from 2.5 per cent to 15 per cent for vehicles shipped from Japan to the US. 

All up, the CEO estimates these factors will add ¥‎200 billion (~A$1.8b) to company's annual cost base.

Another beneficiary of Mazda's ongoing cost reduction drive is the next-generation CX-3, which will go into production in Thailand some time in 2027.

It's not entirely clear when the new CX-30 will debut as the window between now and March 2031 is rather large, but the company has been stretching out its model cycles.

The second-generation CX-5 was in production for around nine years before its replacement arrived this year, while the current Mazda CX-3 was launched back in 2014, and will be 13 years old when it bows out next year. 

Its platform-mate the Mazda 2 also dates back to 2014. While it has received two facelifts since then, a successor has yet to be confirmed.

The current CX-30 went into production in 2019, and since 2022 has been the company's second-best selling model after the larger CX-5. Last year the company sold 200,646 CX-30s around the world, with around half of them built in Japan, and the rest manufactured in Thailand, China and Mexico.

Locally, the CX-30 is currently available with either a 2.0- or 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine. It was previously sold with the company's SkyActiv-X compression-ignition petrol engine, while in Europe a diesel was part of the range.

An EV variant with a 160kW motor was previously sold in China through Mazda's joint venture with Changan. 

MORE: Explore the Mazda CX-30 showroom