2023 Mazda CX-60 Premium RWD SUV Arriving In PH This June

This has finally been confirmed, the 2023 Mazda CX-60 is coming to the Philippines, and it’s arriving a lot sooner than you think. As the first vehicle under the Japanese automaker’s new rear-wheel drive (RWD) “Large Product Group“, the CX-60 offers a driving experience that such a premium RWD layout can achieve.

The 2023 Mazda CX-60 builds on the brand’s Kodo design language, and it carries over familiar styling cues such as the signature five-point grille. This is then complemented by adaptive LED headlights with the LED daytime running lights extending toward the grille. Its proportions are also unmistakably due to its RWD architecture, as evidenced by its long hood that gives this SUV an athletic profile.

Serving as the culmination of Mazda’s upmarket push, the CX-60 has an interior that could easily rival those of luxury brands. There’s a generous serving of genuine wood, leather, and aluminum trims, while the controls are expected to be easy to use thanks to Mazda’s insistence on physical controls rather than migrating everything into the infotainment system. The CX-60 also has a feature called Driver Personalization, which uses a camera to detect the driver’s eyes and then adjusts the seats, steering, head-up display, and mirrors to the position that’s ergonomically correct for the driver’s body type.

The 2023 Mazda CX-60 will come in three engine choices, but we still don’t know which ones will arrive in the Philippines. The first is a 2.5-liter Skyactiv-G gasoline engine that’s mated to an electric motor with a 17.8 kWh battery pack. This is Mazda’s first plug-in hybrid (PHEV), and it’s also the most powerful car they’ve ever produced. Total system output is at 323 hp and 500 Nm of torque, and this enables this midsize SUV to sprint from 0-100 km/h in just 5.8 seconds. When fully charged, this PHEV has an electric range of 60 km.

The other two powertrain choices are the brand’s first-ever range of turbocharged inline-six engines, namely a 284-hp 3.0-liter gasoline, and a 254-hp 3.3-liter diesel. Both are mated to a 48-volt mild-hybrid system and a new, in-house developed 8-speed automatic transmission with a multi-plate clutch. The gas-fed version is able to sprint from 0-100 kph in just 6.9 seconds while the diesel-fed version does the same job in 7.3 seconds.

In order to take advantage of JPEPA’s zero tariffs on Japanese-made vehicles with a 3.0-liter displacement or bigger, we highly suspect that the two mild-hybrid powertrains will have the highest chance of being offered in the Philippines. Pricing is unknown at this point, but we do think that it will be priced along the same lines as the CX-9. Nevertheless, we have until June 9 to wait for this special SUV to arrive in the Philippines.