Mazda is preparing two large SUVs called CX-60 and CX-80, which will be equipped with plug-in hybrid engines.
If you’ve been keeping up with automotive news, you should know that SUVs have been on the rise for years, and it doesn’t look like it will end. It suffices to see the latest innovations launched on the market to realize this, most of which are then raised. A fashion which therefore seems to gain more and more importance, to the detriment of other silhouettes, in decline. And no manufacturer is resisting this trend, not even those who have yet relied on pleasure cars to build their history. This is particularly the case of Mazda, whose range is far from being limited to the MX-5, which is far from being its bestseller, despite its success for more than thirty years. And for good reason, the customers of the Japanese firm seem to prefer SUVs, and in particular the CX-5, sold more than 360,000 copies worldwide, followed by the Mazda 3 and the CX-30.
Encouraging figures, which therefore push the Japanese brand to accelerate the development of its range of tall models, with among others the arrival last year of the new Mazda MX-30. It is then the very first electric vehicle from the manufacturer, which now wants to green its range, in order to better meet the requirements of the European Union. This is why the firm is preparing to launch two new SUVs, as it has just announced in a press release. These will then be baptized CX-60 et CX-80, and will take place above the CX-5 in the catalog. For now, very little is known about them, but the Japanese firm nevertheless specifies that they will be the very first plug-in hybrid models of the brand on the European market. These will then be propelled by the alliance of a four-cylinder petrol unit and an electric motor. Note that Mazda will also launch CX-70, CX-90 and CX-50 on the American market.
A new basis for electric models
But the firm does not intend to stop there, since it is also preparing to upgrade its gasoline engines. e-Skyactiv X and e-Skyactiv D diesel by adding a 48-volt micro-hybridization system. Several electric models will also be launched from 2025, supporting a Mazda MX-30 whose future is not yet known. These will then be based on a brand new technical platform dedicated to them. Ultimately, the entire range of the Japanese brand should be electrified by 2030, in different forms. Mazda is yet to confirm its willingness to offer only zero-emission vehicles to the European market, but it should eventually happen sooner or later. As a reminder, the European Union wishes to ban the sale of combustion vehicles throughout the country by 2035.
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