Mazda pleasantly surprised by CX-60 PHEV uptake

DEMAND for plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variants of the still-fresh CX-60 has caught Mazda Australia by surprise, with the plug-in petrol-electric powertrain, originally expected to be a minor player in the model mix, instead accounting for the lion's share of sales since that model launched in the middle of 2023.

The CX-60 launched in the middle of 2023, delivering a bevy of ‘firsts’ for Mazda. It was the first implementation of the company’s scalable longitudinally-engined Large Product architecture, the first model to use Mazda’s newly minted inline-six petrol and diesel engines, the first to use an all-new eight-speed automatic transmission and the first plug-in hybrid developed in-house by the Japanese automaker.

At launch, the expectation was for the 3.3-litre turbo petrol inline-six to be the fan favourite. Instead, after a little over half a year in showrooms, buyers are gravitating toward the plug-in hybrid version.

Since launch, nearly half of CX-60 buyers have opted for the PHEV.

“The CX-60 plug-in hybrid is number-one at close to 50 per cent (of orders), which is amazing,” Mazda Australia marketing manager Alastair Doak told GoAuto.

“When we talked about it before, some were saying ‘why are you doing a plug-in, plug-ins have been and gone’, but we said that we think plug-in has got a future here, and that to us it made sense.

“Obviously, Australian consumers agree – it offers the best of both worlds.”

The CX-60 P50e, to use the PHEV’s full name, is powered by a 141kW 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated petrol inline four that’s hooked up to a 100kW/250Nm electric motor, producing a total system output of 241kW and 500Nm.

Not only is it the most powerful powertrain in the CX-60 range with a 32kW and 50Nm advantage over the 3.3-litre ‘G40e’ turbo petrol six, but it also allows drivers to travel up to 76km (ADR cycle, 60km WLTP) on electric power alone thanks to a 17.8kWh lithium-ion battery.

Total charging time is a claimed 2.5 hours, with a 7.2kW charger taking the battery from 20 percent to 80 per cent in 90 minutes.

But beyond being the greenest and most powerful in the CX-60 family, the P50e PHEV also happens to be the most expensive powertrain offered, carrying a whopping $10,500 premium over a six-cylinder diesel of equivalent spec, and a $12,500 premium over a petrol ‘six’.

Clearly, a good chunk of CX-60 buyers are not averse to paying a little more to get the technology flagship into their driveway.

The PHEV was expected to account for just 20 per cent of the variant mix rather than almost half – Mazda might have misread market sentiment, but it’s been financially fortuitous in this case.

The natural follow-up question is, how is the company going to tap into this seemingly strong demand for PHEVs?

“Obviously powertrains evolve over time, and you can imagine that we’re having those sorts of conversations, but we can’t really be too specific about what those plans might be,” said Mr Doak.

If Mazda Australia wants to capitalise on the appetite for its plug-ins, the most sensible next step would be to add the PHEV option that already exists for the larger CX-90 to the local line-up.

In the USA, the CX-90 PHEV offers the same 2.5-litre, 241kW petrol-electric powertrain and 17.8kWh battery that’s used by the CX-60 P50e PHEV over here, with an electric-only range of 41km on the EPA cycle (EPA figures tend to be more pessimistic than ADR or WLTP).

With the CX-90 already on sale in Australia with six-cylinder diesel and petrol power, grafting the PHEV hardware into it shouldn’t be too great a challenge considering such an option already exists for Americans, and if it can be done it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect the CX-70 (which is, in effect, a five-seat CX-90) to offer the same when it arrives here at the end of 2024.

The only downside would be the price impost. With the CX-90 already boasting the title of ‘most expensive Mazda’ with the top-spec CX-90 G50e Azami retailing at $93,655, applying the same PHEV premium as the CX-60 would take the CX-90 well over the six-figure barrier before on-road costs are factored in.

The CX-80, which has yet to be revealed but will in essence become a three-row counterpart to the CX-60, would also be a likely recipient of a PHEV powertrain given its closer relationship to that model.

As for other more profoundly electrified Mazdas for Australia?

In Europe, Mazda sells a badge-engineered Toyota Yaris hybrid as the Mazda 2 Hybrid (which is sold right alongside the actual Mazda 2), while the tech-sharing agreement between Mazda and Toyota has also facilitated the introduction of the CX-50 Hybrid in the Chinese market, which utilises the same petrol-electric power pack as the Toyota RAV4 hybrid.

Neither are available for Australia, though it’s understood that Mazda’s local office has a keen hand up for the CX-50 should right-hand-drive production eventuate.

Beyond those, the only other confirmed PHEV in the Mazda world right now is the rotary-powered MX-30 R-EV, which resuscitated Mazda’s rotary engine tech last year to put it to work as an on-board generator in Mazda’s design-led compact SUV.

However, with the MX-30 in the process of being withdrawn from this country – its all-electric variant having failed to make any meaningful impact on the sales sheet – it is highly unlikely that the rotary range-extender version of that car will make it to our shores.

Yet with Mazda keen to make the rotary its PHEV powerplant of choice going forward and the brand announcing its intent to make 40 per cent of its range electrified by 2030, the MX-30 will likely inform the development of the next slew of plug-ins for the brand from Hiroshima.

Precisely what they will be remains to be seen.