LA 2015: Mazda CX-9 gets the balance right

While a change of proportions isn’t always a recipe for success, Audi’s new Q7 being a good example, Mazda’s new CX-9 shows how a few simple adjustments can be used to good effect.

At 5065mm long, the CX-9 is 30mm shorter than the first-generation model. However, the new car has a 55mm-longer wheelbase and the base of the A-pillar has been shifted back by 100mm, giving a much longer hood.

The upshot is that the car is imbued with a balance and solidity that many of its rivals lack, something that’s enhanced by the new ‘Machine Grey’ liquid metal-effect paint. Mazda used the same process as its trademark Soul Red colour to create the hue, made up of a black, grey and a clear layer.

The detailing is good too, particularly the treatment of the lower mask with its chrome bar that visually lowers and widens the car’s nose, striking the right balance between sporty and safe for its family-friendly demographic.

The rear lamps appear to be a solid-looking, overlapping two-piece unit, but are actually a single entity. They’re joined by a chrome spoiler that does a neat job of adding some visual width, too. It also provides a link with a similar detail used on the RX-Vision Tokyo show car.

Although this is a family-oriented three-row crossover, the interior design has been driven upmarket. The IP features a solid, horizontal wing running across its centre, while the centre stack appears very furniture-like, sitting on its dark-wood base. Again, the attention to detail impresses, particularly where the door cards close against the IP and integrate with some complex, twisting air vents.

With Audi dropping the ball in this segment, the way seems paved for Volvo’s XC90 and now the CX-9 to cash in.