Mazda has always made reliable, driveable, safe, and practical vehicles. But recently something’s changed and they’ve started producing some of the best looking machines on the market.

The 2020 Mazda 3 even won the prestigious World Car Design of the Year Award, and their new CX-30 was nominated. Since the CX-30 is coming out here in New Zealand in June, we thought we’d take a closer look at the car to see what all the fuss is about.

Like a Mazda 3 in SUV form

The Mazda CX-30 is a small-mid sized SUV that sits between the city-focused CX-3 and the mid-sized CX-5 in Mazda’s SUV line up.

Design-wise it’s a little like the Mazda 3 in SUV form, sporting the same flowing, minimalist body, simple lines and attractive road stance. It even has those sleek, narrow headlights and the signature Mazda grill that makes it look more European than Japanese.

Mazda says they aimed to create the world’s most beautiful crossover SUV with the CX-30, and we reckon they’ve definitely come close. That’s why if you loved the look of the Mazda 3 but need a little more space, this is a brilliant option.

The Mazda CX-30 has got to be one of the best looking SUVs out there.

All the bells and whistles

Just like the Mazda 3, the CX-30 is absolutely packed with advanced safety, convenience and driver-assist features. That includes:

• High resolution 8.8 inch centre screen with a new operating system.
• Heads up display that projects speed, directions and more onto the windscreen.
• Nifty auto-folding side mirrors that tuck themselves away when you’re parked.
• Rain-sensing window wipers.
• Blind-spot monitoring with driver alert.
• Autonomous braking on both front and rear wheels.
• Driver attention alert which monitors the driver and will give you a beep if you’re distracted.
• Seven airbags.
• Rear-cross traffic alert which gives you a beep when you’re backing into oncoming traffic that may hit you.
• Radar guided active cruise control which is able to automatically apply the breaks when there’s traffic ahead and then accelerate back to your set speed when it clears.
• Reversing camera and rear parking sensors.

Unlike most carmakers who often strip all the good stuff out of the bottom of the line models, Mazda has included everything listed above in the base model CX-30 GSX. That makes it one of the most luxurious, high tech cars in its price bracket.

Despite its affordable price-point the Mazda CX-30 offers premium luxury.

A little luxury

Jump into the driver seat of Mazda CX-30 and you’ll feel the luxury straight away. There’s that new car and leather smell that never gets old as well as soft leather and plastic upholstery on everything you touch. It’s obvious that Mazda is trying to pivot toward the luxury side of the SUV market and at this price-point we’re loving it.

Despite the luxury, Mazda is still doing what they’re famous for with the CX-30. It’s incredibly efficient, using just 6.5 litres of petrol per 100 km thanks to a neat little 2-litre engine with intelligent stop features. It’s also fun to drive thanks to the generous 152 hp it’s got under the hood.

There are a lot of great small to mid SUVs on the market, many of which are made by Mazda. But for our money the CX-30 is one of the better value and best looking options in New Zealand right now. Want to test drive one for yourself? Get in touch today to enquire.