Mazda has outlined its upcoming sports utility range and lots more.

Call it CX education: Included in a big information drop from Mazda is detail of its sports utility wagon lineup for the next two years, with some destined for New Zealand.

Commonality in styling aside, the CX-60, CX-70, CX-80 and CX-90 are all based on a new underpinning from Hiroshima.

This platform favours something the brand only offers currently in its MX-5 sports car: Rear drive. However, it can also be tailored for all-wheel-drive.

There’s more. At least several of the new models will lean heavily on Mazda's engineering and component sharing agreement with Toyota and will borrow some of the plug-in hybrid technology offered on the Prime version of the RAV4.

That four-cylinder petrol is a variant that Toyota NZ has shown past interest in and had previously expressed hope, in pre-Covid conditions, of having here around now.

Apparently earmarked for this tech are the CX-60 and CX-80. Mazda also has its own powertrains in development, in the form of a six-cylinder in-line engine that will have a mild 48 volt set-up. Other brands with such set-ups use them to assist in reducing the load on the powertrain, to improve economy, but not to directly motivate the recipient vehicle. The sixes will come in diesel and petrol flavours.

The spread of four models might seem excessive, but realistically it’s more a matter of two pairings – CX-60 and CX-70, CX-80 and CX-90 are respectively sister ships but with different body widths, one designated as being for countries with narrower roads – Hiroshima suggests Japan and Europe for the CX-60/CX-80 and the odd-numbered for places that favour wider bodies: They say North America. Whether New Zealand goes odds or evens is not clear.

Anyway, the CX-60 and CX-70 are both two-row five-seaters and CX-80 and CX-90 are three row vehicles: So conceivably seven/eight seaters.

Also confirmed by Mazda is that it will also next year launch its range-extender version of the MX-30 electric car which will feature an ultra-compact rotary engine mounted in the spare wheel well in the boot. As with the original 'REX' versions of the BMW i3, this small engine can fire up to keep the MX-30's tiny battery topped up for longer journeys. 

It will also, of course, be the first Mazda with a rotary engine since the now defunct RX-8 sports car.

Beyond that, Mazda will launch ‘a number’ of full-electric models on a new EV-only platform by 2025, and is expecting to have electrified its entire lineup by 2030. AT present, of course, it has just the MX-30 fighting from that corner.

More immediately, and as previously reported, the current CX-5 is due for an update, consisting of a fresh design and extra safety and connectivity features. The new look, as seen above, avails here at some point next year.

Also coming up for complete renewal is the Mazda6, which will switch to rear-drive. In Europe the Mazda2 hatchback will be replaced shortly by a model based heavily on the current Toyota Yaris.