You don’t need to check your calendar. This isn’t a drill or a joke. The vehicle shown above is the 2026 Mazda CX-5. It has been redesigned, but not made better or refreshed. It’s possible to confuse the new CX-5 with the model it replaces, which would mean that the small crossover was given the instruction, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The CX-5 has always stood out, so that’s not a bad thing. The sides and back are where you can see the most changes if you look closely. The new CX-5 doesn’t have the swoopy, falling beltline that made the sides of the old CX-5 stand out. Instead, it has the more straight, slab-sided shape of the CX-50. The nose is a little straighter, which makes me think of the Nissan Rogue, but that’s not a bad thing. The back also receives some attention. The protrusion at the taillights becomes sharper behind the rear window, giving the car an Escape-like appearance without significantly reducing headroom in the back. The car is actually 4.5 inches longer than it looks, and there are 3 inches between the wheels. A longer length should make more room for legs in the back. The improvements on the inside were much more thorough, but not always for the better. The old CX-5 looks good for its age, but the design choices made ten years ago are holding it back on the inside. The new dash is very simple and looks good. Physical controls are disappearing. The music and climate controls are now part of the infotainment stack. The only tactile buttons left are the parking brake toggle and the gear selector itself. That’s right. Say goodbye. Hi there, touch screen. Our new 15.6-inch device can do all of these things, and Mazda says it offers “smartphone-like usability” thanks to its new Google-built-in operating system. Mazda has made several changes, including integrating its rotary dial interface with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There is some good news here: the CX-5’s steering wheel will have some special controls. However, it’s challenging to determine whether these early images depict actual physical buttons or haptic controllers with printed functions. The 2026 CX-5 will initially feature a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 187 horsepower and 185 lb-ft of torque, coupled with a six-speed automatic transmission. After that, a hybrid version based on the company’s new “SkyActiv-Z” design is expected to be released, but not until 2027.
