Oh, So The Mazda Koeru Might Be a Completely New Car
Settling the debate between whether Mazda’s Koeru concept from Frankfurt was a new CX-5 or CX-9 (or CX-7?), CEO Masamichi Kogai told Automotive News that the answer may be “none of the above,” apparently.
On Monday, Kogai said that the Koeru could get the green light as a sporty crossover, sold alongside the CX-5 as a wagon-esque crossover aimed “to generate more driving pleasure,” Kogai told Automotive News.
Media reports on Tuesday likened the lower, fastback, five-door Mazda wagon to a possible Subaru Outback competitor, which completely forgets what an Outback looks like today.
(That’s because the Subaru Outback has nearly 9 inches of ground clearance, is the size of a battleship and isn’t really “sporty.”)
It’s hard to tell what itch the Koeru would scratch from Kogai’s comments to Automotive News.
“It’s a totally new car. It’s a lower, sporty SUV. It’s close to a wagon,” he said. “The CX-9 rides higher. So does the CX-3 and CX-5. (The Koeru) aims to generate more driving pleasure.”
So it’s a MazdaSpeed5? There’s that new turbo four in the CX-9 that looks awfully tasty.
Mazda has some ground to make up and history has proven that the market for Subaru Outback’s is lucrative, but extremely loyal.
Remember the Toyota Venza? Honda Crosstour?
More by Aaron Cole
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Looks to me like it'll have the approximate footprint of the departed Toyota Venza, but will be more driver-focused.
Seems to me more of a Murano-size competitor, but it's hard to tell with no scale to the photos. Perhaps it's something Infiniti EX-sized?
I dig it. Would be tough to go up against the outback as it's slayed all previous challengers and it's better than ever. Next car for the fam is going to be an Outback to replace our Forester but I'll take a trip to the Mazda dealer to check this thing out just in case.
Yeah I was confused when I read about this elsewhere as a more car-like, wagon-like crossover for driving enjoyment and then comparing it to the Outback. At this point the Outback is basically a straight up 100% CUV.