Mazda Teases 2018 Mazda CX-8 – Three-Row Seats, Seven Or Six-Seater

Just as the all-new 2017 Honda CR-V is being progressively rolled out around the world with seven seats, Mazda has confirmed today that it plans to launch a three-row seat CX-8 in Japan before the year ends.

For Japan, the three-row seats will be configured either as a six-seater or seven-seater.

Curiously, the seven-seater CX-9 is not offered in Japan, so the CX-8 will be Mazda’s flagship SUV in Japan.

Like the Japanese market Mazda 3 and CX-5, the CX-8 will be offered with a diesel engine, an unusual choice for a Japanese market model. The CX-8 will be launched with a 2.2-litre SkyActiv-D clean diesel engine paired to a 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission.

Not much details is available, and no exterior image of the CX-8 is available but we have published several spyshots that should give you an idea of what to expect.

In terms of size, the CX-8’s wheelbase is 2,930 mm, which is exactly the same as the seven-seater CX-9.

The CX-8’s body measures 4,900mm long, 1,840mm wide and 1,730mm tall. That makes it closer to the CX-9’s size (5,065 mm x 2,207 x 1,716) rather than the CX-5 (4,550 mm x 1,840 mm x 1,675 mm), but with exactly the same width as the CX-5.