2024 Mazda CX-90 Teaser Unveils PHEV Setup and Minor Styling Cues

Pre-launch vehicle teasers serve as a great opportunity for automakers to ‘tease’ its fans and fellow customers, often resulting in garnering hype for the upcoming debut. Although only showcasing minimal and barely recognizable parts of the car, there’s more to it than meets the eye, as some teaser images, like this upcoming Mazda CX-90, can give keen-eyed folks extra details to ‘work’ with.

Renowned Japanese marque Mazda has released a final teaser for its upcoming CX-90 SUV, revealing a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) setup and striking new taillights design. The US-bound seven-seater SUV will make its global debut later in Jan 2023, becoming Mazda’s first-ever PHEV vehicle in the Star-Spangled Banner state.

From the new teaser, the image showcases a man plugging up a white-hued CX-90, with the SUV’s taillights and the blue-tinged ‘e-Skyactiv PHEV’ badging being the only visible design elements. The CX-90’s rear fascia shows a typical SUV-like rear end, with its C-pillar draped in gloss black, indicating a two-tone finish.

Meanwhile, the CX-90’s previous teaser image confirmed the inline-six powertrain that it will boast, thanks to the presence of the ‘inline-six’ chromed badge, placed on top of what seems like its front wheel arch. Hued in Mazda’s red, the front quarter panel showcased a rather juxtaposed wheel arch, stipulating the CX-90 having a muscular stance.

Built specifically to cater the North American market, the performance-oriented CX-90 will boast an inline-six mill plus PHEV setup, dubbed as the e-Skyactiv PHEV. As for now, Mazda has yet to disclose the detailed performance spec of the CX-90, but we bet it’ll be closely related to its smaller sibling, the CX-60.

Boasting a 2.5-litre straight-four mill and an electric motor, the Euro-spec CX-60 PHEV delivers up to 323 HP and 500 NM. Powering its electric motor is a 17.8-kWh battery pack that provides up to 56 KM of all-electric range.

Aside from the said powertrain, the CX-60 also comes with a bigger 3.3-litre inline-six mill plus a 48-Volt mild hybrid system. Available in selected markets like Australia, this version of the CX-60 outputs about 280 HP and 450 NM.

With both CX-60 and CX-90 sharing similar Skyactiv Multi-Solution Scalable Architecture underpinning, the upcoming CX-90 will likely boast relatively similar performance specs as its smaller sibling.

Prior to the CX-90, Mazda has got its hands on the next-gen Mazda6 that allegedly boasts an inline-six engine with rear-wheel drive (RWD) configuration. However, said new model has yet to arrive, as the Japanese marque focuses on expanding its SUV line-up with upcoming models such as the CX-90 and CX-50.

This SUV-centric approach is also reflected in Mazda Malaysia’s current offerings, of which more than half of it comprises SUVs, ranging from compact SUVs like the CX-3 and CX-30 to full-sized ones like the seven-seater CX-9.