AI Auto Podcast Feb 27, 2026

S7E13 — Inside Mazda’s Strategy: How the 2026 CX-5 Reinvents Their Best-Seller

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13:11

Car

Mazda Cx5

The Mazda CX-5 is a small SUV that is easy to drive and looks nice. The 2026 version got some updates but kept the same engine as the older model.

Car

BMW M3

The BMW M3 is a fast and sporty car that is based on the regular BMW 3 Series. It's popular for being fun to drive and powerful.

Car

Hyundai Tucson

The Hyundai Tucson is a small SUV that many people buy because it's reliable and has good features. It's popular among families and daily drivers.

Car

Honda CR-V

The Honda CR-V is a small SUV that lots of people buy because it's good on gas, reliable, and has plenty of space for passengers and cargo.

Car

Toyota 4Runner

The Toyota 4Runner is a bigger SUV that can handle rough roads and outdoor adventures. Many people buy it because it lasts a long time and holds its value.

Term

40/20/40 split

This means the back seats can fold down in three parts, so you can carry big things and still have seats for people.

Car

The Mazda RX-3 is an old sporty car made by Mazda that used a special kind of engine called a rotary engine. People talk about it because it was different from most cars and was fun to drive back in the day.

Term

power liftgate

A power liftgate is a back door on some cars that opens and closes by itself when you press a button, so you don't have to lift it manually.

Term

heated seats

Heated seats are car seats that can warm up to keep you cozy when it's cold outside.

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Today we're here in Encinera sitting in the 2026 Mazda CX-5, which got a complete, well

not complete refresh, because the engine is the same, right?

Which was amazing, I mean, I don't think it needed to be changed, to be honest, I drove

the M3 a couple of weeks ago, oh I'm sorry, I need to introduce you, so David you're titled

you're the product manager for this new car?

Yes, my name is Janice Jacobson, I am a senior manager in product strategies, yes.

So again, the car got a lot of changes, the powertrain remains the same, which again,

I don't think it needed to be changed, I mean, it's working perfectly, the way the

Mazda engineers, Dave Coleman, and his team, the things they do with these cars are amazing.

I always, I asked for from you, apparently he's not here, but I wanted to congratulate

him, because they do such an amazing job, and we were driving today, here up on the hills,

and that was a comment, like, they didn't need to do anything today, because it's really

well, it works really well, and it always seems, when you're driving, or when I'm driving

the Mazda, maybe other people don't feel like the same way, but I do, that you're getting

more of what it is, so this is what, 187 horsepower, you feel it going like 300, and you're driving

fast, and it's an SUV, so it's really, really good, so that didn't need to be changed, right?

Right.

But tell us what changed, I mean, a lot, I'm seeing a lot of it here, but tell us what

Yeah, so, the biggest thing is, you know, the 6.5 is great, to begin with, so that's

a good foundation, right?

But you know, times are evolving, customer expectations are evolving, the primary big

one is technology, that experience, you know, we all, and there's a lot of iPhone users

on there, and that interface of how you interact with the technology needed to change.

Customers are looking for touchscreen, and so that's something that we wanted to offer

now in the new 6.5, and there's various ways that, you know, we allowed, you know, our

customers to be able to interact with the system, right, in the steering wheel controls,

because, you know, we're still Mazda, so driving is very important for us, so keeping all of

the functions that you usually use most often on the steering wheel comes easily, and then

also having the big touchscreen, and then there's voice command, so, you know,

Yeah, that's to make it so much easier, right?

There's different ways that you're able to interact, depending on what you need.

I know.

Another aspect of that, though, is while we wanted to maintain, you know, it being a

modern look and feel, the design is very important.

It needed to be able to cohesively fit together, where it's not just for techy-techy sake,

right?

Oh, of course, yeah.

We wanted to make sure that in the interior, it still feels warm and inviting, so there's

a lot of balancing, you know, with that, another big thing is the space of the vehicle

altogether.

So, this is a little bit bigger, taller, wider?

Yes, it's definitely bigger.

We improved a lot of the focus of, you know, the longer, you know, we increased it by,

you know, over four inches.

A lot of that space went into the rear seat space, as well as the cargo, and we learned

that customer, those are the things that in the old CX-5, you know, it was getting smaller

relative to the competitive set, so as customer expectations are evolving, competitors are

up and up, and so we also needed to do that, so we needed to improve the utility of the

overall vehicle, and we did that, we've demonstrated in the rear seat and also the cargo.

Speaking of competitors, I really appreciate when you guys, I mean, show your trust in

your product by bringing the competitors, I mean, not a lot of brands do that, and they're

like even, not even mentioned by name, you brought them here, you showed it to us to

see it face to face.

So you brought the Hyundai Tucson, the Hyundai...

The CR-V?

The CR-V, I'm sorry, and the four-runner from Toyota, which is the top seller in the segment,

right?

But when you compare it number to number, and like you like the facts, I mean, you can come

ahead.

That's important for us, right?

Because as a consumer, you know, you would caution up, you would look at competitors,

so that's the reality.

Exactly.

So we have to understand, they all have their strengths.

Oh, of course, I mean, there's no bad cars in the market anymore.

Exactly, but at the same time, we know who we are and what we want to offer our customers.

So we wanted to make sure that, you know, yes, our cars look good, yes, they drive great,

but at the same time, value is very important.

As I mentioned, this is the biggest segment, so that needed to be the practicality is something

that we also needed to offer in addition to the emotional aspect of the vehicle, which

we're known for.

So that combination is really...

Yeah, so from big changes in technology, you know, that to very small details.

So this morning, when you were doing the walk around, and you were showing us all the space

and the features and all that, and then we went to look in the interior.

I opened the second, the rear door to the normal point where you will think it will

open, and then I pushed it a little more and said, wow, did I break it or what happened?

It's a big difference.

Tell us about that.

Because that's like something small, and I guess something in the hinge or something.

I don't know, but it really was noticeable to me without even knowing before, then you

talk about it.

But tell us.

No, so a big inspiration of that is, you know, we talked to a lot of different customers

and their different needs.

The big, as I mentioned, was loading and unloading rear-facing chassis, right?

Yes, it's a shorter paper.

It's like, oh yeah, but it's a short period of time of most people and it's only a sliver

of people, families, you know, kids, but those people who really need that, they would appreciate

that.

And that applies to anything.

Anything bulky that you bring in the vehicle is important.

And more people are using these vehicles for that.

That's right.

So having that door opening that much, you know, swing that much wider, so when we think

about like space, we think about not just how to make it bigger, but also how you get

into that space, right?

Right.

Exactly.

So getting in and out was also something that we paid a lot of attention to.

So working with, you know, not just the designers, but the engineers, so like, can

we make, can this door open even, you know, bigger than or wider exactly than where it

is now?

But it's a nice little touch.

Other little thing is that in the rear seat, the middle part comes down only.

Not the whole thing, not 60, 40, but just the middle.

And then you can slide out a big, long object, whatever you're doing there.

You can put it there and still use it to seats, right?

So another big, big, small change, I guess.

Right.

And, you know, we don't, we try to minimize compromises, right?

You say, oh, I want to carry a lot of things, but I also want to carry passengers.

So we're trying to find ways of how we can offer greater flexibility in our vehicles.

And that 40, 20, 40 split is a perfect example of that because you can load stuff and still,

like I said, not give up the seats.

Yeah, exactly.

So let's go back to the screen because actually when I had the Mazda 3 a couple of weeks ago,

at the end of my video review, I said, if you want to find something that I don't like about

this car, watch the screen.

Right.

In the Mazda 3, I mean, this is a different car, but still Mazda.

So in that case, it's very narrow compared to this, a little far, and it wasn't touchscreen

as you were saying.

And that, so that's like a huge, huge change.

So tell us, but in this car, there's two options, right?

This is the bigger one.

There's a smaller one.

So tell us about that.

And both of them actually, in regards to what screens rise, it's easily accessible for both.

And it's not like, you have bigger screen, it's like better.

That 12.9, it's also big enough, and it's great also because they're going to say there's

going to be some people say, oh, this is too big, right?

They were complaining for too small, but too big.

But that's human nature, I guess, right?

Correct.

So the positioning, the screen size, it's all optimized for you to be able to, again,

keep your eyes on the road, but still be able to access what you need, whether it's steering

wheel controls or whether actually pressing something in the voice.

So it just gives you that much flexibility and not just the screen, but a lot of people

also, they like bigger screen because they like bigger icons, whether it's in the maps

or...

Well, driving can be hopefully not distracting, but it's very useful because things are very,

very visible on the screen.

And also, what I really like is the way the controls are.

You don't just touch it, you can slide, like for temperature, for volume, for all those

kind of things.

So there's a lot of things that you can do, and still some people are going to, oh, I

miss the volume now, but you have it there, as you said before, right?

Correct.

Tell us what else changed to that side, because also the driving mode or what else?

The driving mode is there, and then, you know, items like, you know, the camera, right?

Easily.

Some people are like, I want to see what it looks like, the 360 view, so that 360 view

is there also.

So, again, all the things that, you know, the voice command and the phone, all the things

that you really would need is easily accessible on the steering wheel.

And plus, if you don't necessarily want to look down, we also head up display, right?

And the...

The redundant system, yeah, but it's very useful.

So it's useful also.

So again, it's minimizing just the amount of, Matthew has mentioned, the cognitive load,

but also just how much you take your eyes off the road.

Those are the little things that we pay attention to and how you're able to, you know, drive,

but also be able to access, you know, all the things that you need when interacting

with infotainment.

So another thing that has improved in this model is safety, right?

So from the materials, to the technology, to the airbags and everything, what's...

Jennifer's last name?

Morrison.

She's head of...

Correct.

Safety features.

So that was...

That's a big improvement.

And she was saying, you cannot see it, but the steel is free in force.

And so a lot of things, right?

Like that.

Yeah.

And, you know, when we look at this segment, quality and safety are two of the top purchase

reasons.

Right?

And we take safety for granted.

Oh, yeah.

But actually, it's very important.

And especially when we talk about families, right?

These are the things that, like, we actually look into it and how safe is this vehicle.

And so we know that.

And so now we embedded a lot of, like what Jennifer was mentioning, anything has to

do with safety, not convenience, right?

Comfort and convenience, which you get as you go on the effort trips.

But like safety features, standard, right?

Because you don't need to pay for...

Like, there are certain things that, like, should be in the vehicle.

And so we were able to offer a lot more of that, even at the base model and make it standard

for everyone.

So a very timely consumer report just recognized Mazda as one of the safest brands.

So very good timing for the launch of these cars.

So tell us about, like, what is Sextra, what's the model range, or what things are standard?

Why not?

Like, you mentioned the smaller screen, the bigger screen, what are other differences

in the model lineup?

Yeah.

So depending on where you would, how you would, you want to go up.

But it's usually has to do with the amount of feature content that would be in the vehicle.

So as I mentioned, you know, on the base trim, for instance, we have cloth seats.

And then you go in the mid-range, you get the leatherette, and then you go in the upper,

then you get the leather.

And also the amount of technology.

So like we have as the power liftgate, that's really nice, heated seats, heated steering

wheel.

So there's a model with no power gate?

Yes, yes, there is.

Oh, I don't think you're going to sell that video, but people love that.

No, the power, exactly.

And actually comparing that to also the competitors within the same price range, right?

Yeah, I know that doesn't happen, yeah.

So those are the little, you know, those are things that we believe add a lot of value

to the customer.

So, yeah.

So really, really cool car.

And tell us about when it's in a well available, it's already on sale, or when it's coming

up, or what's up when people can start looking for it.

Yeah, it would be in the dealerships, like end of this month, so February 23rd is when

someone...

Oh, like next week.

But it all depends also on, you know, where you're at in the country, right?

Yeah.

And how much of that inventory there will be, but they should be heading to the dealership

soon, very soon.

This is built in the U.S.?

This is in Japan.

Oh, Japan, okay.

But you must have a big plan here, right?

In Indiana, what is the big plan for Mazda here in the U.S.?

You don't build cars here?

Yes, and no, we do.

We have the 650.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

Well, thank you very much for your time and for fixing the weather.

It was raining this morning.

I know.

It's gorgeous now, so enjoy.

So we're going to go enjoy it.

Thank you very much.

All right, thank you.

That's it for today's AI Auto Podcast with Javier Moda.

Hope you enjoyed the ride as much as we did.

Tune in next time for more on how AI steering the wheel of tomorrow's autos.

Drive safe, stay curious, and catch you later.

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0:00

13:11

S7E13 — Inside Mazda’s Strategy: How the 2026 CX-5 Reinvents Their Best-Seller

Mazda Cx5

BMW M3

Hyundai Tucson

Honda CR-V

Toyota 4Runner

40/20/40 split

Mazda 3

power liftgate

heated seats

About this episode

Original notes