Mazda to offer diesel CX-5 in North America

17 November 2016

Mazda Motor Corporation announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show today it will offer the SKYACTIV-D 2.2 diesel engine in the all-new Mazda CX-5 for North America from the second half of 2017. It will be Mazda’s first diesel engine model in the North American market.

The SKYACTIV-D 2.2 to be fitted in the CX-5 for North America provides a torque-rich driving experience and makes the CX-5 one of the most fuel-efficient vehicles in its class, said Mazda. The updated SKYACTIV-D 2.2 utilizes SCR technology to meet emission standards. The engine also adopts Natural Sound Smoother and Natural Sound Frequency Control proprietary technologies that reduce diesel knock sound. No technical details or specifications were released.

Mazda intended to bring the SKYACTIV-D 2.2 engine to the US market in 2012, but the plan was delayed on several occasions. The original version of the SKYACTIV-D 2.2 diesel was designed to meet NOx emission standards without aftertreatment, but the company was unable to certify the engine to meet US EPA and California emission standards. The updated version utilizes urea-SCR aftertreatment for NOx control.

Mazda launched their SKYACTIV-D diesel engines without NOx aftertreatment in 2011 in Europe and in the following year in Japan.

Mazda has been promoting diesel engines in Japan, apparently with some degree of success. In 2012, diesel penetration was just 1% of the Japanese market, according to Automotive News. Diesels now represent 8% of the Japanese market, and Mazda supplies about half of that volume. In 2015, Mazda sold 103,771 diesel vehicles in Japan and 182,758 worldwide.

Diesel vehicles account for about 2.5% of the US light-vehicle market. The availability of diesels in the US market has been very limited due to the lack of diesel models from Volkswagen, a major supplier, in the aftermath of the diesel emission scandal.

Source: Mazda | Automotive News