Mazda today announced that its upcoming three-row SUV, the North American market-specific 2024 CX-90, will be offered with a plug-in hybrid powertrain in addition to the previously confirmed inline-six. Moreover, the automaker claims that the new PHEV powertrain will help improve the performance of the new three-row SUV.
While details such as power and efficiency
for Mazda’s first-ever plug-in hybrid for the U.S. market remain a mystery, it
is anticipated that the new PHEV powertrain will share much in common with the
European CX-60. That model combines a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine with an
electric motor, which together make 323 hp and 500
Nm of torque.
Additionally, Mazda revealed in November
that the CX-90 will get an inline-six-cylinder engine. Details for that
powertrain are also under wraps ahead of the SUV’s full unveiling, but at the
time, the automaker promised that the model would be “an elegant, bold and
powerful instrument of emotion, crafted and designed to curate and enhance
every experience you share with it—inside and out.”
Designed primarily for the North American
market, the three-row CX-90 is one of three new SUVs that the automaker is
adding to its U.S. lineup, alongside the CX-70 and the CX-50. The CX-60 and
CX-80, meanwhile, are also part of the automaker’s SUV push, but the narrower
vehicles are intended primarily for Europe’s tighter roads. It’s unclear if the
CX-90 will replace the CX-9 or be sold alongside it. Like the CX-9, it’s a
large, three-row SUV, but Mazda has taken the decision to sell the CX-5
alongside the more rugged CX-50.
One way or another, the automaker promises
that the CX-90 will be the “boldest expression of Mazda design to date.” We
will find out just what that means in January 2023, when it unveils the new
model.