The 2026 Mazda CX-5: A Bigger Screen, a Bigger Body — and the Turbo and the Rotary Dial Are Both Gone — Rated 7.1/10

The third-generation CX-5 is genuinely all-new rather than a facelift, and the changes cut in both directions. Two long-standing Mazda signatures have been deleted, and a third has finally arrived.

The arrival first. The rotary Commander controller is gone. In its place every trim gets a 12.9-inch colour touchscreen, with a 15.6-inch unit available on the GT Premium package, alongside a 10.25-inch digital instrument display. Google is built in across the range — Maps and Assistant with a one-year trial — and Mazda Canada also cites a Gemini assistant. For a manufacturer that resisted touchscreens longer than almost anyone on the grounds that they distract drivers, this is a reversal.

The deletions are harder to celebrate. The 2.5-litre turbocharged engine has been dropped entirely, leaving one powertrain for the whole lineup: a naturally aspirated Skyactiv-G 2.5 producing 187 horsepower and 186 pound-feet on regular fuel. And there is no hybrid — Mazda Canada's own material confirms one is coming, but says it launches in 2027. In a segment where the RAV4 has gone hybrid-only and the CR-V sells four hybrid trims of seven, the CX-5 arrives with neither a hybrid nor a turbo.

The transmission is the other conspicuous carry-over. Every CX-5 uses a six-speed automatic, at a moment when most rivals run eight speeds or a continuously variable transmission. Fuel consumption lands at 9.9 litres per 100 kilometres in the city, 7.9 on the highway and 9.0 combined, identical across every trim.

Canadian pricing is straightforward, which is more than can be said for some rivals in this series. The GX opens at $36,300, the GS at $39,200 and the GT at $42,200, with a panoramic roof package taking the GT to $44,200 and the Premium package to $46,700. Those are plain MSRPs — freight and pre-delivery inspection of $2,195 and a $100 air-conditioning charge sit on top, and Mazda does not quietly subtract incentives to make the headline smaller.

What the money buys is a bigger car. The wheelbase now measures 2,815 millimetres and overall length 4,690, opening up 954 litres of cargo space behind the rear seats and 1,882 with them folded. Seating is for five, towing is rated at 680 kilograms, and — a real point in the CX-5's favour — i-Activ all-wheel drive is standard on every trim rather than an upcharge, as are G-Vectoring Control Plus and Mazda's Mi-Drive modes.

Safety equipment is unusually complete at the base price. The full i-Activsense suite is standard on all three trims, including radar cruise control with speed limit assist, smart brake support with turn-across-path and rear cross-traffic braking, blind-spot monitoring with vehicle exit warning, emergency lane keeping, traffic sign recognition and front and rear parking sensors. The GT Premium package adds a 360-degree camera with see-through views, front cross-traffic braking, driver monitoring and facial recognition. The GT also brings a twelve-speaker Bose system; lower trims run eight speakers.

For context on what is at stake, Mazda's own newsroom reported cumulative global CX-5 production and sales passing five million units by the end of 2025, and the model has been the company's best seller since 2018. This is the car Mazda cannot afford to get wrong.

A 7.1/10 from the Torbrook Rating Agency reflects a redesign that modernised the cabin and enlarged the body while leaving the powertrain a generation behind its competition. The specifications above are Mazda's; the score is ours.