A Mazda CX-60 and CX-80 are coming to Europe

Two new Mazda SUVs are set to be launched in Europe in the next two years, with the CX-60 and CX-80 slotting in above the compact SUV that is the CX-5.

The new duo will mark Mazda’s first foray into plug-in hybrid technology, with a straight-four engine working in tandem with an electric motor for low Benefit-in-Kind, company-car heaven.

There’ll also be a six-cylinder Skyactiv-X petrol and a Skyactiv-D diesel utilising 48V mild-hybrid tech as part of the company’s plan to fully electrify every vehicle in its line-up by 2030.

Details are scarce for now but Mazda says the CX-60 and CX-80 will offer two and three rows of seats respectively, suggesting that the latter will provide competition for the likes of the Seat Tarraco and Kia Sorento seven-seaters.

Wide-body versions called the CX-70 and CX-90 are in the pipeline too, but these will only be sold in the US and other non-European territories.

Not satisfied with stuffing those additions into the increasingly saturated SUV market, Mazda will also introduce a new version of the rather nice (but as our long-term reviews have shown, pitifully under-ranged) MX-30 in the first half of next year: this will use a rotary engine as a generator, putting it in the same league as other range-extenders such as the London Taxi, and, er, not a lot else.

Still, Mazda promised a return to rotary power back in 2018, and a return to rotary power we shall receive. Can’t say fairer than that.

Looking further ahead, Mazda says it will build a number of new electric cars on a dedicated platform, but we won’t see any of these until 2025. Plenty of time to squeeze some more range out of the MX-30, then.