Mazda preps CX-5 promo onslaught

THE advertising campaign for Mazda’s all-new CX-5 has stepped into top gear both in Australia and the US in the past week, revealing a number of new details about the upcoming new compact SUV ahead of its local launch next week.

Mazda Australia will not screen a version of an innovative new TV commercial that hit North America on February 17, co-promoting both the CX-5 and the upcoming 3-D computer-animated film, Dr Seuss’ The Lorax, which arrives in US cinemas on March 2 before the CX-5 goes on sale Stateside in April.

The cartoonish American CX-5 TVC shows a stylised CX-5 cruising between the colourful Truffula trees in the Truffula Valley of The Lorax, the children’s story by author Dr Seuss.

It was developed for Mazda USA and its advertising agency Garage Team Mazda by Illumination Entertainment, the production company behind The Lorax, and the Universal Pictures film studio.

According to Automotive News, Mazda increased its US advertising budget by 25 per cent to about $US325 million ($A303m) this year to launch the CX-5 and the revolutionary new SkyActiv engine, transmission, chassis and body technologies it will debut.

Similarly, Mazda Australia began airing a 15-second teaser ad for the CX-5 last Sunday (February 19), ahead of the model’s official release next Tuesday (February 28) morning, when full pricing and specifications will be revealed.

Instead of revealing the actual car, Australia’s initial CX-5 ad shows a cheetah – the animal that inspired Mazda’s new ‘Kodo: Soul of Motion’ design language - running out of a carpark and surprising people on city streets.

Produced for Mazda Australia and its advertising agency Clemenger Harvie by Zoom Film & TV’s Mark Toia using state-of-the-art CGI special effects from New York’s The Moving Picture Company – the same outfit that helped bring the Harry Potter movie series – the local CX-5 teaser will run for two weeks.

It will spawn print, digital and outdoor advertising campaigns – each with the tagline ‘An SUV, but not as you know it’ - before being replaced by a full-length CX-5 spot in early March.

In the meantime, Mazda Australia has also created a CX-5 ‘infographic’ with digital partner Igloo, designed to explain some of the new model’s revolutionary SkyActiv features “in a way that’s visually engaging and will appeal to today’s web savvy buyer.” The animated promo video – released on the same day Ford Australia finally launched its direct rival in the long-awaited Kuga - reveals the CX-5 will be available in Australia with a number of high-tech safety features, including lane departure warning and a rear-view camera.

It is not clear whether the Mazda’s new Smart City Brake Support low-speed auto-braking system will be available locally, but side curtain airbags, DSC electronic stability control and ABS brakes with traction control (TSC) and electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) will be standard, along with 17-inch alloy wheels.

Other luxury-car options will include bi-Xenon headlights, 19-inch alloy wheels, satellite-navigation, a Bose sound system, Bluetooth connectivity and leather trim.

The CX-5 will be available from next week only in 2.0-litre petrol guise – including six-speed manual and automatic front-wheel drive and auto-only all-wheel drive variants – before an auto-only AWD diesel version hits Australian showrooms in late March.

All models will come standard with fuel-saving idle-stop technology, helping Mazda to claim the CX-5 will offer class-leading fuel efficiency, with the 2.2-litre SkyActiv-D turbo-diesel version returning combined average fuel consumption of a small car-like 5.7L/100km, despite coming as standard in AWD-auto form.

Mazda’s first diesel-powered compact SUV – and its first automatic diesel vehicle of any type – will not skimp on performance to achieve its outstanding economy figure, however, with a class-leading 420Nm of torque available from 2000rpm and some 129kW of power on tap at 4500rpm.

GoAuto understands the entry-level front-drive petrol manual model (which returns 6.0L/100km in Europe and will cost well below $30,000 in Australia) will produce 114kW at 6000rpm, while the auto version will offer slightly less at 113kW at the same revs.

The latter is the same output as the similar 2.0-litre SkyActiv petrol four released in the auto-only Mazda3 SP20 last October, but falls well short of the 121kW the same engine offers in Europe, where higher-quality standard unleaded petrol allows a higher 14.0:1 compression ratio.

The CX-5 measures 4540mm long, 1840mm wide, 1670mm high and rides on a 270mm wheelbase, making oit a direct rival to compact SUV stalwarts like Subaru’s Forester (and new XV), Toyota’s RAV4, Honda’s CR-V and Mitsubishi’s Outlander, both of which will be renewed later this year.

Official Australian Design Rule documents also show that, illogically, AWD variant will offer 5mm less ground clearance that 2WD models at 210mm, but all versions will come with an 1800kg braked towing capacity (750kg unbraked).

Kerb weights open at 1395kg (2WD petrol manual), extending to 1425kg (2WD petrol auto), 1485kg (AWD petrol auto) and 1590kg (AWD diesel auto).