On This Day, I Am Excited For The Mazda CX-5 To Be Internet Famous
Mazda is typically a carmaker that strays from the pack in terms of trying to offer something different. It knows it will never move as much volume as the Japanese giants that are Toyota or Honda. It won’t even move as much product as Nissan despite the latter losing money by the minute.
So fuck it, Mazda will do its own thing. In the past, that meant pioneering the Wankel rotary engine until it was good enough to run without pistons or a noise limit. When emission regulations finally killed it, Mazda moved on to the next best thing: SUVs.
Yes, a bland proposal until you realize this is Mazda we’re talking about. That just because company priorities shift doesn’t mean it hasn’t lost the zoom-zoom demeanor that the cars are long known for. Just look at Porsche with the Cayenne.
Like the Cayenne, the CX-5 was an immediate hit for Mazda when it launched for 2013. Although not its first SUV, it is by far the biggest hit, turning the brand from a novelty maker that made the equivalent of Japanese BMWs into a household name.
Still, Mazda is still relatively small. So it’s understandable that it hesitates to mess with success. Which is why the 2026 redesign is a big deal.
It may be paying off though because, per a report by Autoblog, more people are researching the CX-5 than any other small SUV this year so far, including rivals that dominate sales year after year. The humble little Mazda is seeing more internet traffic than the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V.
This is also a BFD because each are capable of selling almost half a million per year. The best calendar year for CX-5 sales is still less than half that, despite it being Mazda’s bestselling model by a significant margin. So it adds to the momentum the brand has right now after selling over 400,000 total units annually back to back for the first time.
The irony is the 2026 CX-5 isn’t actually all that different beneath the skin. Mazda still utilizes the same platform with the same 2.5-liter engine, the same six-speed automatic transmission, much of the same suspension components, and the same rack-and-pinion steering for better road feedback. You get the picture.
The talk of the town is the entirely new cabin derived of buttons, replaced with a giant center screen or a humungous display if you opt for top Premium Plus trim. It’s hated and vile but that’s the trend right now. Fortunately, that’s the biggest disappointment.
Other meaningful changes include more space for all passengers, not typically a Mazda trait, and a hybrid is coming soon to show that Mazda can keep up with the times. It’s always been a little old hat in terms of features and committing to vehicle amenities that just don’t need to be fixed if it ain’t broken.
This is why the Miata is as timeless as Betty White humor (R.I.P.). You can love it back when she bantered with Joan Rivers and you can love it in current times all the way up until she drew her last breath. It doesn’t matter if you buy an MX-5 from 1990 or this year. It will be praised with love and admiration on behalf of the car and its owner.
If Miatas want to keep getting made, it needs to keep making money. So Mazda will bow to the powers that be in order to get more people to the showrooms. Becoming more internet popular than Toyota and Honda shows it’s on the right path in this AI driven, sloppy ridden world.
Also, I appreciate that it still looks weird. The last CX-5 is weird and endearing and I suspect that’s why they flew off lots. Further proof that shows Mazda hadn’t lost the plot.
Obnoxious screen aside, I will continue to embrace the zoom-zoom ambiguity in solidarity.
-TA
All images: Mazda