This week Mazda Australia officially confirmed the CX-80 three-row large SUV will come to our market, with an expected arrival date at some point in 2024.
The CX-80 variant range is expected to slot into the local lineup starting from around $68,000.
Mazda has yet to reveal the CX-80 which has now been confirmed for Australia
It’s set to be the third vehicle based on Mazda’s Large Product Group platform alongside the CX-60 midsize SUV and CX-90 large SUV, which will make up the driving force behind the brand’s pitch further upmarket.
Serving as a narrow-body variant of the CX-90 with a European focus, the CX-80 is expected to be more affordable than the aforementioned model but not a direct replacement for the CX-8, which is expected to carry on until 2024.
The double-digit CX lineup essentially serves as a more premium option to the single-digit CX models; as seen with the CX-5 and CX-60 along with the CX-9 and CX-90.
The CX-60 will be the first of the three premium SUVs to land in Australia
Where does CX-80 pricing sit in the local lineup?
Mazda Australia confirmed this week that the CX-90 will be priced from $74,385 to $100,185 (before on-roads) when it launches this year, figures which roughly translate to a $25,000 premium over the CX-9, which is priced from $47,600 to $75,165.
A similar gap can be seen between the CX-5 ($35,510 to $54,500) and CX-60 ($59,800 to $82,300), with the latter a narrow-body vehicle designed primarily for Europe, similar to the CX-80.
Pricing of Mazda’s other models, such as the CX-8, provide a good guess as to the price of the CX-80
With this in mind, we can reasonably speculate that the CX-80 will start from around $68,000 and will top out at $85,000, given that the CX-8 is currently priced from $40,610 to $71,410.
This price range places the CX-80 comfortably underneath the flagship CX-90 but ahead of the CX-60 in the lineup, as a three-row SUV typically would be.
What can we expect from the CX-80?
We don’t know what it looks like, we haven’t even seen a teaser, but if you line up a photo of the CX-60 and CX-90 side-by-side and squit you’ve probably got a good idea.
Being a vehicle designed primarily for Europe, we can expect to see the four-cylinder plug-in hybrid system, currently found in the CX-60, make its way into the CX-80 along with other options such as Mazda’s naturally-aspirated 3.3-litre straight-six petrol.
Mazda recently confirmed the CX-90 will receive a six-seat option and we expect the CX-80 will get the same
Mazda also offers turbocharged petrol or diesel options with the same displacement, which could also be an option.
These drivetrains will almost certainly be paired to Mazda’s newly developed eight-speed automatic transmission and rear-biased all-wheel-drive system.
A standard seven-seat layout is almost certain, however Mazda has shown consistent commitment to offering a six-seater setup with two captain’s chairs in the second row, similar to the CX-8.
