New Mazda CX-5 arrives in South Africa: Here's what you get for your money

The third-generation Mazda CX-5 is significantly larger than its predecessor.

The long-awaited third-generation Mazda CX-5 has landed in South Africa, featuring sharper looks, larger dimensions and fresh cabin technology.

Yet pricing remains close to that of the outgoing version, with the new four-model range kicking off at R578,250 and rising to R749,100. The previous version, for what it’s worth, had bookends of R570,500 and R688,400.

The newcomer goes up against the Hyundai Tucson (from R559,900), Jetour T2 (R569,900), Ford Territory (R584,900), Nissan X-Trail (R599,900), Volkswagen Tiguan (R668,100), Subaru Forester (R699,000) and Toyota RAV4 (R770,500).

While its design is a relatively gentle evolution of its predecessor, the newcomer is significantly larger, with overall length having grown by 115mm to 4,690mm, while the width has increased by 15mm. All of that extra length goes into the wheelbase, which bodes well for interior space.