Mazda is taking aim at the Volkswagen Touareg with a new SUV.
The Mazda CX-70 has been revealed as the third member of the brand’s Large Product Group family, serving as a two-row companion to the flagship CX-90.
It’s coming to Australia, but Mazda hasn’t specified when. The Japanese brand has now confirmed all four Large Product Group SUVs for our market: the CX-60 and CX-90 are already on sale, while the as-yet unrevealed CX-80 is arriving at an unspecified time.
Like the CX-90, the CX-70 will be offered in Australia with a choice of 3.3-litre turbocharged inline six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, both featuring 48V mild-hybrid technology and mated with an eight-speed automatic transmission and rear-biased all-wheel drive.
While Mazda hasn’t specified outputs for the CX-70, the CX-90’s petrol engine pumps out 254kW of power and 500Nm in Australia, while the diesel produces 187kW and 550Nm.
Mazda also hasn’t specified dimensions for the CX-70, but it appears almost identical to the CX-90 inside and out.
It’s distinguished via unique black exterior accents, while inside there’s a new burgundy interior colourway.
Also unique to the CX-70 is a new power-folding function for the second row, allowing you to use buttons in the cargo bay to drop the rear seats.
Mazda promises a completely flat load bay, even with the second row dropped, while under the boot floor there are three storage spaces.
Another new feature debuting in the CX-70 is an emergency assist function for the Cruising and Traffic Support feature. The system will monitor whether the driver closes their eyes or looks away from the road and alerts them to pay attention.
If the driver doesn’t respond to prompts, the system will slow the vehicle down or bring it to a complete stop to avoid an accident.
Mazda is also touting a trailer hitch guide that can assist the driver in connecting to a trailer, and has highlighted the 2500kg towing capacity of the CX-70.
In the CX-90, towing capacity is 2000kg with the diesel engine and 2500kg with the petrol. Mazda hasn’t explicitly stated whether all CX-70s will have the same figure.
The company hasn’t confirmed any other features for the CX-70, though given the close resemblance to the CX-90 inside we’d expect it to offer a choice of 7.0-inch or 12.3-inch instrument cluster screens and 10.25-inch or 12.3-inch infotainment screens.
Expect the same raft of safety equipment, too, which includes autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection and junction assist, as well as blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.
The CX-70 will almost certainly undercut the CX-90 on price, but it’s unclear by how much. The flagship Mazda SUV is currently priced from $74,550 to $101,130 before on-road costs.
Mazda’s Large Product Group range consists of two vehicles aimed at markets like Europe and Japan – the two-row CX-60 and three-row CX-80 – and the CX-70 and CX-90 aimed at markets like North America.
Given Mazda’s outsized popularity in Australia, we often given get a mix of vehicles aimed at different markets. For example, we received the Japan-focused CX-8 and US-focused CX-9 three-row crossovers.
