Mazda teases possible new CX-4

Mazda has released a shady teaser of its “new compact SUV” ahead of the Geneva show next month. Following hot on the heels of the new 3, it will feature the same ‘matured’ Kodo design language and updated SKYACTIV architecture and powertrain tech.

One slight mystery is which place it will take up in the Mazda range, which already has two compact SUVs. The second-generation CX-5 is only two years old, and surely won’t have been resdesigned already. The smaller CX-3 has been around since 2015, but was facelifted just last year.

Perhaps, then, it is in fact a global replacement to the currently China-only CX-4, which is similarly sized to the CX-5 but has a sleeker roof and coupé-ish pretensions.

In any case, the teaser image of the rear end – which we’ve brightened-up a bit, to little avail – reveals a very high waistline and a relatively short roof, which perhaps adds fuel to the idea that this is a more coupé-inspired design.

The taillights draw a strangely forlorn expression, with incomplete rings on the outer edges and thin hockey-stick strips reaching inwards and steadily upwards towards the centre.

Little more can be discerned at this point, but we can safely speculate that it will take the main themes from the new Mazda 3, which is the first production model with a new interpretation of Mazda’s ‘KODO’ design philosophy, and make them fit onto an SUV’s proportions – although probably with a smaller rear pillar than the C-segment hatchback boasts…

We will bring you more on this in Geneva in a month’s time.