Cleaner styling, drive modes, new variants and increased refinement for Mazda’s midsized SUV 

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Leverkusen, Germany – Mazda’s popular midsized SUV, the CX-5, will receive a second update in 2021 that the Japanese brand says will add an improved driving experience thanks to switchable drive modes, improved refinement, and sleeker styling.

The facelift was announced for both the US market and European market for early 2022. Mazda Singapore says there is no official confirmation on when/if the CX-5 facelift will arrive in Singapore. Our own guess would be a Q1 2022 launch, with the same 2.0-litre front-wheel drive engine variant as currently seen on local pricelists. 

The styling improvements are typical of a facelift: New front end consisting of headlights, grille, and lower front end changes. The grille is larger and more square, contrast that to the diamond-shaped grille of the previous model, and both the head and taillights have been remade – you can see dual L-shaped figures inside them now – shades of the Jaguar F-Pace facelift there too. 

A new paint colour is a beige-green choice dubbed ‘Zircon Sand’. In Europe, the CX-5 will have three different trim variants, although naturally Singapore may not see identical trims/variants. A particularly interesting one for Europe is ‘Newgrounds’ which has lime green trim elements on the front grille, seat stitching, and air con louvres. 

A new feature on the CX-5 is ‘Mazda Intelligent Drive Select’, what the company calls ‘Mi-Drive’, which are basically switchable drive modes that have now become widespread even in mainstream cars. It does not say what these modes are, although it does say that cars equipped with all-wheel drive will have an additional Off-Road mode.

That probably means Singapore’s models won’t have them, as our market has seen only the 2.0-litre front-wheel drive variant in recent times, with even the 2.5-litre non-turbo model dropped from the pricelists. Overseas there’s a range-topping 2.5-litre turbo with 250hp, as seen in the larger CX-8 SUV. 

Active safety systems get a boost with the addition of Cruising and Traffic Support (CTS) which is adaptive cruise with steering assist, and the adaptive headlight function has been improved as well. 

A short history of the CX-5

The CX-5 is Mazda’s midsized SUV that debuted in 2015 and promptly became one of the brand’s key sellers. The first gen model was facelift 2015, and in 2017 the second gen model debuted in Singapore. The second-gen’s first facelift was in 2019, which leads us to this second facelift now. 

Second facelifts are common now, Mini just did it earlier this year. With the electric age dawning it doesn’t make sense to plough billions into an all-new combustion car platform when current ones are already good enough. 

Searching for a CX-5 for less? ucars.sg has a huge range of preowned ones here!

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