CX-70 crossover expected to go on sale next year
Joins CX-90 as second model on new RWD platform
Mazda is on pace to have its best year ever in North America, and that’s with one of its most anticipated launches getting pushed back into 2024.
Tom Donnelly, the head of Mazda North America, told Automotive News that the company plans to hit 350,000 vehicles sold here in 2023, and anticipates a massive jump to 500,000 by 2025. At the same time, the company has its highest share of the North American market ever.
The Mazda CX-90, a rear-drive three-row crossover model with an available plug-in driveline is a major part of that growth. Mazda expected the very-related two-row CX-70 to help increase its growth, but it will not launch in 2023 as planned.
Instead, the Mazda CX-70 will launch in early 2024. Better late than never, though the company has been struggling with a shortage of vehicle production and this model might not see such constraints.
Donnelly said that the company added a second shift at its Alabama plant where the CX-50 crossover is built, and that is expected to increase sales significantly, helping it to catch up with the 165,000 or so that the CX-5 sells per year, rather than its current 50,000.
