First look: Mazda Kazamai previews next-gen SUV

MAZDA has chosen to reveal its latest show car – the Kazamai Concept – at the Moscow International Automobile Salon on August 26, and speculation is mounting that it presents the flavour of the compact SUV that will ultimately replace the Tribute.

Described as “a sporty, compact crossover concept vehicle”, the Kazamai Concept’s name refers to “swirling crosswinds”.

To that end, it is a further concept evolution of the 2006 Los Angeles Auto Show’s Nagare (which means flow) as well as its Ryuga (gracious flow) from the 2007 Detroit show and Hakaze (flying leaf) from last year’s Geneva show.

This time, Mazda has added what it refers to as ‘aerodynamic proportions’ to the Nagare concept’s design, while retaining the flowing lines that are meant to evoke nature and visual lightness.

The Kazamai is the newest of the quartet of concepts created over the last two years under the guidance of Mazda’s global design director, Laurens van den Acker – and the one that is closest to a production vehicle.

Expected to be dubbed the CX-5 when it enters production sometime late next year or in 2010, the kid brother to the CX-7 and CX-9 softroaders will be closely related under the skin to Ford’s Kuga – the recently released European compact SUV that is built on the C1 platform that also underpins the Focus and Mazda 3.

However, the styling will be completely different inside and out to the German-built Ford, just as the current Mazda 2 shares no panels or interior bits with the next-generation Fiesta due here in 2009.

But don’t go looking for the Kazamai concept car’s 22-inch wheels, exaggerated windscreen rake, ultra-low roofline or super-thin pillars on the production car.

Just as interesting as the Kazamai’s design theme is what the CX-5’s mechanical make-up is likely to be.

Mazda is dropping a big hint that – in some models at least – the “newly developed transmission” mentioned in the Kazamai press release may be a variation of the double-clutch automated gearbox that Ford recently debuted in various versions of the Focus in Europe.

It will also be mated to a new range of direct-injection engines in petrol and diesel formats, as well as an on-demand all-wheel drive system that will help keep emissions and well as fuel usage competitively low.

The Tribute was Mazda’s first car-based compact SUV and was available in several iterations in Australia from early 2001 until the beginning of this year.

Its spot in the line-up was eventually replaced by the more expensive CX-7, effectively leaving Mazda without a cost-competitive rival to cheaper vehicles such as the segment-leading Toyota RAV4.

“We see significant opportunity for an SUV below the CX-7,” said a Mazda spokesman, “and we would do everything we can to bring this sort of vehicle to Australia.”

The Moscow show was chosen partly as a nod to Russia’s taste for compact SUVs, which was the second-largest segment that country’s booming market.

Read more:

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