Mazda CX-80 review: Family hauler has CX appeal

Mazda’s fresh assault on the SUV market has seen big changes to the CX range of popular family wagons

The 2025 Mazda CX-80 GT.

Mazda has made a massive renewed push into the SUV market – and it’s not taking any prisoners.

The array of tall wagons the Japanese marque now sends Down Under is dizzying – and then you start on the variants of each one.

It’s a concerted effort to dominate the family car space – and why not?

SUVs are the biggest-selling platform of car in the world and Australia is a juicy market – they dominate motorways and school drop-off zones across the country.

My fam-bam had a go in the all-new CX-80 GT – and it was one that was close to home.

We have a previous-generation CX-9 at home and it’s incredible for what it does – it’s spacious, smooth and comfortable, with great aircon.

It was also the only car we could get a rear-facing baby seat into the back in 2022 without squishing my wife in front.

Naturally we were excited about the CX-90 when it landed in Australia, but we were shocked to see the price tag.

Our sub-$60,000 family hauler had been replaced by something much more expensive.

It soon became clear the CX-90 had been pitched as a more premium big wagon – a cheaper alternative to some of the Europeans but, sadly, priced several thousands of dollars more than its big-selling predecessor.

Three rows of seats and plenty of room for all your stuff, the CX-80 is pitched as the volume seller for families in the new CX range.

Then came the other CXs and things became really confusing.

After the initial shock of the blizzard of models as the new range was rolled out, the strategy began to make sense.

The CX-80 is now the volume large family wagon offering for Australia, with three rows of seats, plenty of room (albeit slightly narrower than the CX-90) and stacked with more reasonably priced specs than the big one.

It starts at $60,000 for the base model Pure and goes up to $92,000 for the fully decked-out, plug-in hybrid Azami.

Our GT – one model down from the Azami – is priced around $75,000, depending on engine choice.

It’s nestled between the luxe five-seat CX-70 (premium packaging but no third row), starting around $80,000 and going up to $91,000-ish, and the big CX-90, which starts at $75,000 and goes up into the $90,000 range.

The 2025 Mazda CX-80’s interior (Azami trim shown).

All the CX-80s are now hybrids, in either turbo petrol, turbo diesel (both 3.3-litre in-line sixes) or the plug-in hybrid 2.5-litre four-cylinder.

I’d read the CX-80 could be a bit skittish on the road but we didn’t have any problems with the ride. My only comment would be about the eight-speed box and the hybrid boost confusing each other at low speed and hunting between gears.

We didn’t really notice the smaller width in the cabin, either. The old CX-80 looked thin and much more obviously a stretched version of a smaller car, but the CX-80 is a proper big wagon with great height and plenty of presence.

MAZDA CX-80 G40E GT

Price: Around $75,000 drive away, as tested

Warranty/servicing: Five years, unlimited kilometres; 15,000km service intervals

Engine: 3.3-litre turbo six-cylinder petrol with hybrid boost; 209kW, 450Nm; eight-speed transmission

features: 360-degree cameras, panoramic roof; 12.3-inch touch display; Bose sound system

thirst: 8.4 litres/100km (claimed, combined)

VERDICT

3.5 out of 5 stars

With plenty of tech and safety, heaps of space and hybrid grunt, it’s easy to imagine this making big waves in the family car market.

Originally published as Mazda CX-80 review: Family hauler has CX appeal