The first Mazda to be produced under the company’s radical new ‘Sky Activ’ technologies will be the CX-5 SUV, which is due to reach the UK in spring 2012.
Sky Activ encompasses a lightweight modular platform, new suspension set-ups, much more frugal engines and new transmissions that will give Mazda legislative future-proofing for a decade and allow it to thrive as an independent car maker away from its alliance with Ford.
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The CX-5 will be underpinned by Mazda’s new platform, which can be used as a base for any size of car from a Mazda 3 to the CX-7, because of its modularity.
The forthcoming SUV will be equipped with a new 2.2-litre turbodiesel engine that produces 173bhp at 4500rpm and 310lb ft at 2000rpm. The engine is 20 per cent more economical than the current 2.2 diesel. It will be mated to a new six-speed manual transmission.
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With this new engine and gearbox, the front-wheel-drive CX-5 will have CO2 emissions of less than 120g/km.
The engine also already meets Euro 6 emissions standards (not due to come into force until September 2014) without expensive NOx traps. It is also cheaper to build than today’s Euro 5 diesels.
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