Mazda Minagi Concept

Following its debut at the Geneva Motor Show, Mazda brought its Minagi Concept to the 2011 New York Auto Show. This design exercise is a harbinger for a new compact SUV called the CX-5, which is slated to arrive in calendar 2012.

Mazda officials claim the Minagi is a production-ready design and is quite a departure from the company’s current portfolio. The goal is to capture the look of a cheetah that’s about to strike at its prey.

When put into production, the Minagi/CX-5 will feature a full suite of Mazda SKYACTIV engines. With direct fuel injection and 6-speed transmissions (both manual and automatic), these gasoline and diesel powerplants are designed to produce more power with greater efficiency and fewer emissions than the current crop of Mazda engines. The diesel engine will meet strict U.S. emissions standards without the need for a urea-based exhaust-treatment system.

The production Mazda CX-5 is slated for a world debut at the Frankfort Motor Show this September. Figure on availability sometime in early calendar 2012 as a 2013 model. We would expect pricing to start at about $21,000 for base models and reach to slightly more than $30,000 for loaded versions.

CG Says:

As far as its styling goes, we’ll take Mazda’s word that the Minagi looks like a pouncing cheetah. What’s under the hood of this compact SUV is what has us most excited. The new SKYACTIV diesel engine sounds like it’ll be a real winner with terrific performance and fuel efficiency without the need for an expensive exhaust-treatment system. We wish the 2012 Mazda 3 were the launch vehicle for this platform, but we won’t complain about it being in the CX-5.

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• 2011 New York Auto Show Home Page
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