Mazda is still being coy about the new CX-4 crossover before its Beijing auto show debut, but lucky for us, a Chinese website has leaked photos of this new model completely uncovered. It even has large “CX-4″ lettering on the side to confirm exactly what we’re looking at. Essentially a longer, lower, and more stylish version of the Mazda CX-5, the CX-4 will reportedly be exclusive to the Chinese market at first?but we’d be surprised if Mazda doesn’t eventually bring it to the U.S. given our market’s unyielding love for crossovers of all shapes and sizes.
We certainly like the shape of this one, as the CX-4 takes familiar Mazda forms and stretches them into a more dynamic silhouette. The front end is nearly identical to the CX-5, but things start to get more interesting along the lower, more shapely greenhouse that leads to a sharply raked rear window. According to the site that leaked the photos, Netease, the CX-4 shares its wheelbase with the CX-5, but is around four inches longer and five inches lower than that more conventional compact SUV. That’s about what we expected given the low-slung Mazda Koeru concept that previewed this model.
A badge on the side of the CX-4 says “2.5 AWD,” suggesting that this car will be powered by the same 2.5-liter Skyactiv four-cylinder in the Mazda 3, Mazda 6, and CX-5 models. Netease also says that Mazda’s smaller 2.0-liter four-cylinder will be offered, but we have no idea if...