Mazda has a lot riding on the new CX-5. It was the Japanese automaker’s best-selling vehicle in the U.S. last year, reaching sales of 136,335 units, and while that trails a cohort of models including the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Subaru Forester, among others, its top U.S. executive is convinced there’s room to grow.
In a recent interview with WardsAuto ahead of the launch of the 2026 Mazda CX-5, Mazda North American Operations CEO Tom Donnelly expressed optimism that this redesign’s focus on ride quality and cabin and technology upgrades will appeal to car shoppers in a highly competitive vehicle segment.
“The CX‑5 itself is our top-selling nameplate,” Donnelly told WardsAuto. “As we look ahead to our expectations for 2026, this is going to be a real catalyst for us.”
Mazda’s strategic pricing for the CX-5
The average new-car transaction price reached a record-high of over $50,000 in September 2025, and affordability remains a key concern for car shoppers.
The 2026 CX-5 has a starting MSRP of $29,990 (excluding destination and handling fees), which is around 40% below the average cost of a new vehicle in the U.S. The fully-loaded, top-trim “S Premium Plus" equipped with a panoramic sunroof is priced at $39,990.
“There's a real science and an art to pricing vehicles,” Donnelly said. “When you position this new product, the CX‑5, right in the middle there, $29- to $39[,000], we're right in the sweet spot of the market.”
Donnelly said that in any given year, Mazda expects to sell 125,000 to 140,000 CX‑5 crossovers.
Unlike the more rugged CX-50 sibling that competes with vehicles such as the Subaru Outback Wilderness, Honda Pilot TrailSport, Toyota RAV4 Woodland and Ford Bronco, the new CX-5 is targeted at young, growing families rather than outdoor adventure seekers.
The CX-50, however, was one of the automaker’s best-selling vehicles in the U.S. in 2025, with sales surging over 35% year over year and double-digit YoY growth since its launch in 2022. It was newly offered as a hybrid for 2025, and had its highest-ever sales months in September, November and December.
Although the CX-50 is positioned as a more rugged SUV, Donnelly believes it can co-exist with the more refined CX-5 in Mazda’s lineup. “We positioned both of them in very distinctive marketplaces. And what we've seen is they're attracting two very different audiences,” he said.
The 2026 CX-5 retains the familiar look of the 2025 model, but it's bigger inside with a larger cargo area that’s been made easier to load and unload. The more significant improvements, however, are its comfort and a larger second row, along with a bigger 12.9-inch touchscreen and Google built-in.
Donnelly said some of the design changes to the 2026 CX-5 were driven by customer feedback, which included many requests to make the second row bigger. Mazda listened to its customers and extended the wheelbase by 4.5 inches, which significantly improved legroom.
“From our owners, it was the rear seat legroom, and we're comparable to best in class in that regard now,” Donnelly said.
Customer loyalty fueling an “inside-out” approach
Other than the CX-5’s updated design, the Mazda CEO is counting on customer loyalty to further drive sales, as current owners may want to move up to the new model.
Donnelly noted that brand loyalty among Mazda CX-5 customers is similar to that of Subaru, which ranked second in J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Automotive Brand Loyalty Study, with 60.6% of customers likely to purchase another Subaru model when trading in or purchasing their next vehicle.
“We've got 1.7 million CX‑5 owners over the 10‑year life cycle of the product,” Donnelly said. “So many of them are on their second, third [and] fourth CX‑5. So our approach in terms of how we go to market, our communication plan, is really focused inside-out, starting with our owners, and then building off of that.”
Mazda is leaning on its U.S. dealer network
Donnelly is also relying on its 500+ Mazda U.S. dealers to help drive sales of the new CX-5 by delivering a high level of customer service in a competitive automotive retail market.
He said he met with Mazda’s National Dealer Advisory Council in early February to refine the CX-5’s launch plan and finalize distribution to help ensure each of its U.S. dealers has the right mix of vehicles and in the right locations.
In J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index Study, which measures customer satisfaction with the new-vehicle sales process and dealer experience, Mazda was the highest-ranked brand in the “Mass-Market Car” segment, with Porsche placing first in the “Premium Car” category.
“The quality of our dealer network is on par, from my perspective, with Toyota [and] Lexus, it is among the best in the industry,” Donnelly said. “The experience they provide our customers has never been better.”
According to Stewart Stropp, VP of automotive retail at J.D. Power, dealers that take time to educate buyers on a vehicle's features and maintain a connection with their customers after delivery are the ones poised to boost buyer satisfaction.
But rising new-car prices have also pushed some consumers towards the used vehicle market, including at Mazda dealers. The automaker posted its second consecutive year of record-setting certified pre-owned vehicles in 2025 of 76,009 units. It was the automaker’s best CPO sales year ever.
Donnelly also said Mazda’s dealer service retention is up 8% over the past five years, which he said helps boost dealer revenue on the service and parts side of the business.
“It's a very profitable part of the business,” Donnelly said, also noting the profitability aspect for dealers. “It keeps the vehicle in our network, which is advantageous for resale value.”
New sales records ahead?
Donnelly is projecting that combined sales of the CX-5 and CX-50 will reach 250,000 units in 2026, which will account for a significant portion of Mazda’s total U.S. sales volume if achieved. As a result, he believes total U.S. sales could reach 425,000 vehicles this year, which would be the automaker’s best sales year ever.
“We've only crested 400,000-plus [total U.S. vehicle sales] two times before, and it was the last two years,” he said.
Although Mazda’s U.S. sales totaled 410,346 units in 2025, it was a 3.3% YoY decline in a challenging year for some automakers.
Still, Donnelly’s sales forecast reflects his optimism for Mazda with the launch of the new CX-5 and following two consecutive years of selling over 400,000 vehicles. In addition, the compact utility segment that includes many popular crossover models accounted for 21% of all new-car registrations in the U.S. through May of last year, according to S&P Global.
“Given the size of this [crossover] segment, given the importance of this vehicle, we have a tremendous opportunity here,” he said.
