Mazda CX-5 scoops 'green' award

Mazda’s all-new CX-5 crossover has added the What Car? ‘Green SUV 2012’ title to its trophy cabinet. 

“The Mazda CX-5 offers an extraordinary amount of car for the price,” said What Car? Editor-in-chief Chas Hallett at the awards ceremony in London.

“As well as great fuel economy and low emissions, it has loads of standard equipment, plenty of passenger space and an elevated seating position. The flexible seating can also be folded flat in a second for easy loading.”

The What Car? Green Awards are decided by the magazine’s editorial team, who described the SUV’s 2.2-litre 150 PS SKYACTIV-D diesel engine as its “stand-out feature delivering strong performance and exceptional economy. The CX-5 averaged 47.2 mpg (4.9 litres per 100 km) in our true miles per gallon (mpg) tests, which is better than similarly priced rivals such as the Audi Q3 or the ever-popula Land Rover Freelander".

Runners-up to the Mazda CX-5 2.2 SKYACTIV-D 150 PS SE-L were the BMW X3 xDrive20d SE (true mpg of 42.2, or 5.6 litres per 100 km) and Nissan Qashqai 1.6 dCi Acenta 2WD (true mpg of 45.9 or 5.1 litres per 100 km).

Last month, the Mazda CX-5 won the best design award in its segment, as chosen by 200,000 readers of Auto Bild across 15 countries in Europe. The Mazda CX-5 took 17.8 per cent of reader votes to beat the Audi A6 Allroad (10.8 percent) and Audi Q3 (9.9 percent).

In June, the Mazda CX-5 was crowned ‘Best Crossover’ in the 2012 Auto Express New Car Awards for its "space, quality and style with a great drive and incredible efficiency”.