When tasked with developing the 2017 Mazda CX-5, the automaker’s team of designers and engineers had one primary directive to follow: Don’t screw it up.
That may seem like an obvious mandate, but it’s a particularly important one for a vehicle that means so much to Mazda globally. After all, the CX-5 has been on a tear since hitting the market back in 2012, and now accounts for almost a third of the brand’s global sales annually. If there ever was a golden goose in Mazda’s lineup, this compact crossover would be it.
In the face of that make-or-break maxim, the 2017 Mazda CX-5 makes its newness known right away. The original CX-5 was the first of Mazda’s vehicles to feature the so-called KODO design language, and so it’s fitting that this second-gen version gets fitted with the latest iteration of it. While new, the CX-5’s look is clearly an evolution of the original and features a modern take on the same sculpted lines as before.
