![](\"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2026-mazda-cx-5.jpg\")
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When the CX-50 debuted in 2023, there were whispers that Mazda’s new compact SUV might replace the perennial best-selling CX-5. But as the arrival of the 2026 CX-5 confirms, that’s not the case. In fact, Mazda executives are adamant that the two compact SUVs can live together in perfect harmony.<\/p>\n
Speaking with Motor1<\/em>, Mazda North America’s VP of Strategic Planning, Stefan Meisterfeld, says that the CX-5<\/a> and CX-50<\/a> offer two unique choices for two different types of customers.<\/p>\n 2026 Mazda CX-5<\/em><\/p>\n Photo by: Mazda<\/p>\n 2025 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid<\/em><\/p>\n Photo by: Jeff Perez \/ Motor1<\/p>\n “We believe in the coexistence of these two [vehicles] because this is the largest segment in the industry,” Meisterfeld notes. “We do see customers who lean more towards the urban, sophisticated direction\u2014which is obviously CX-5. But we also see the more rugged and more adventure-oriented customer in the CX-50.”<\/p>\n “We see them coexist perfectly next to each other,” Meisterfeld continues. “In fact, I think we have a unique proposition here as one of the very few\u2014if not the only\u2014manufacturer that offers these two different choices in this segment.”<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to disagree. Mazda sold more than 134,000 examples of the CX-5 in 2024, and more than 80,000 CX-50s, putting them first and third on the automaker\u2019s sales chart, respectively. Only the subcompact CX-30 finished better than the CX-50.<\/p>\n This year also marks the first full year of sales for the new CX-50 Hybrid, which combines a Toyota hybrid system with the company\u2019s 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. As we note in our review, the more efficient CX-50 should only help bolster sales<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mazda has already confirmed the arrival of a hybrid CX-5 in 2027, but it won’t use the same Toyota unit as the CX-50.<\/p>\n “The CX-50, as you know, is built alongside Toyota vehicles in our plant here in the US,” Meisterfeld tells us. “The [new CX-5] will be built in Japan, and we believe that the Mazda hybrid system will have unique characteristics that will just fit perfectly for this vehicle.”<\/p>\n The 2026 Mazda CX-5 goes on sale toward the end of the year, but we\u2019ll have to wait for official pricing.<\/p>\n Mazda’s Skyactiv-Z Will Be ‘The Ideal Internal Combustion Engine’<\/a> When the CX-50 debuted in 2023, there were whispers that Mazda’s new compact SUV might replace the perennial best-selling CX-5. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2460"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2467,"href":"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2460\/revisions\/2467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Mazda](\"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/mazda-cx-5-2025-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"2025](\"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2025-mazda-cx-50-hybrid-first-drive-review.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"2026](\"http:\/\/www.undergroundz.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/2026-mazda-cx-5-1.jpg\")
\nPhoto by: Mazda<\/p>\n
The Next-Generation Mazda CX-5 Will Be Hybrid<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"