New 2022 Mazda CX-60: 300bhp PHEV interior previewed

The preview image shows the CX-60’s dashboard centrepiece with soft fabrics. Mazda claims the model’s interior will be a “totally new experience” for both drivers and passengers.

Mazda also suggests the interior will be inspired by the ideas of Kaichō, which it describes as “the harmony which comes from mixing different materials and textures”. 

The CX-60 will be decidedly premium inside, with maple wood, Japanese textiles, chrome detailing and Musubu - binded textiles for the instrument panel stitching. 

The CX-60 will be the first plug-in hybrid that Mazda has launched. A prototype has previously been spotted out on the road in the run-up to the model's unveiling.

Despite the camouflage, its relationship to the Mazda CX-5 is clear from similar design treatments at the front and rear, although the bonnet appears to be notably longer and the quad-exit exhaust hints at its enhanced performance potential.

It will be followed by a larger CX-80 – which will add a third row of seats – and the new range-extender version of the Mazda MX-30 EV, which will use a small rotary petrol engine as a power generator.

Official details of the CX-60 remain thin on the ground, but Mazda has confirmed that it will pair a 2.5-litre petrol engine with an electric motor for a combined power output of more than 296bhp.

What's unclear is whether that 2.5-litre engine will be the firm's own Skyactiv unit, as deployed in the CX-5, or the 173bhp engine from technical partner Toyota. 

This latter is paired with a pair of motors – one with 180bhp on the front axle and another with 54bhp at the rear – for a total output of 302bhp, which tallies with Mazda's 296bhp-plus claim.

Mazda has just introduced the first European-market vehicle to emerge from this partnership: the Toyota Yaris-based 2 Hybrid, which will be sold alongside the existing 2 for the foreseeable future.

The CX-60 PHEV "demonstrates Mazda’s commitment to a multi-solution approach to sustainable mobility and the principal of the right solution at the right time", the company said. 

It added that the powertrain will offer "smooth, efficient and powerful acceleration giving the driver greater confidence and driving enjoyment in the widest possible range of driving scenarios". 

It will sit above the CX-5 and is expected to command a premium as a result, priced from around the £35,000 mark, when it arrives in dealerships later this year.

The two new large models will take Mazda's European SUV count to five, including the CX-30, MX-30 and CX-5. The wider CX-70 and CX-90 (based on the CX-60 and CX-80 respectively) will be launched in the US and Canada, alongside the rugged CX-50 crossover.