Mazda CX-9 to be axed, replacement expected to cost 50 per cent more
The Mazda CX-9 seven-seat family SUV will be axed in Australia this year and replaced by the CX-90 with an expected starting price that is 50 per cent – or $25,000 – dearer.
The Mazda CX-9 seven-seat family SUV will reach the end of the road in Australia later this year to make way for a range of new models with significantly higher price tags.
Mazda executives told Drive last month the future of the Mazda CX-9 was in doubt beyond the end of this year, amid the arrival of the new and more expensive CX-90 seven-seat SUV in the coming months.
The company has now confirmed the CX-9 will be axed "later this year" – after seven years in showrooms for the current model and 15 years as a nameplate locally.
Prices for the CX-90 are yet to be confirmed, but Drive has previously reported estimates of $70,000 to $100,000 before on-road costs – a significant increase over the current CX-9, which spans $47,600 to $75,165 plus on-road costs.
It means there may be little to no overlap between the old CX-9 and new CX-90 pricing – and top-of-the-range CX-90 models could enter pricing territory of BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi seven-seat SUVs.
Mazda Australia also today confirmed plans to introduce the upcoming CX-80 large SUV in Australia – but this is expected to be a stretched version of the smaller, narrower CX-60, similar to today's CX-8 seven-seater which is based on the five-seat CX-5.
Data provided to Drive by Mazda Australia shows about a third of CX-9 sales last year were the top-of-the-range, $70,000-plus Azami and Azami LE models.
Instead, the single best-selling variant last year was the mid-range Touring – priced from $55,200 to $59,200 plus on-road costs – which accounted for 31 per cent of sales.
Mazda Australia marketing boss Alastair Doak dismissed concerns about losing CX-9 buyers amid the switch to the more expensive CX-90.
Mr Doak said: "We also have CX-8 there as well, which we are just updating again in a month or so's time. We think that when all of those things arrive in market, we will have a very broad three-row [SUV] portfolio.
"We want to give as much choice to customers as possible and we're pretty comfortable with our plan that we'll continue to deliver that breadth of choice, breadth of price point, breadth of equipment ... so we're pretty comfortable with where it all sits."
Buyers looking for a seven-seat Mazda SUV on a budget will be directed to the CX-8 ($42,060 to $71,410 plus on-road costs), which Mazda Australia has confirmed will remain on sale for the immediate future.
However, the CX-8 is a smaller vehicle – effectively a stretched version of the five-seat CX-5 – rather than a full-sized seven-seater to rival a Toyota Kluger or Hyundai Palisade.
Presentations given by Mazda to investors have suggested the CX-8 may be replaced by the new CX-80 in its home market of Japan, however the brand has not confirmed if that will apply to Australia.
"We are definitely not in a position to confirm end dates for any of the nameplates," Mazda Australia boss Vinesh Bhindi told Drive, when asked if the CX-80 will replace the CX-8 in Australia, as speculated in Japan.
"I'm not across what they have announced in Japan, whether [CX-80] is a direct replacement for CX-8, or [if] they have plans to stop selling [CX-8]. From our point of view, if it's in production, and if it's available to our market, we would have it."
Mazda Australia executives would not nominate an end-of-production date for the CX-9 – or when the last stock is due to arrive in showrooms – but said the vehicle will be "in our portfolio for most of this year".
"It all depends on what we can continue to secure, what the factory is able to provide us [to meet] demand, et cetera," Mr Bhindi told Drive when asked if there would be CX-9 stock remaining into 2024.