2025 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid Premium Plus: First Spin

In the car business, it pays to have friends. Mazda, for example, is good friends with Toyota, and that relationship is paying off in spades. Turns out, Toyota is friends with a lot of car companies. Japan’s biggest carmaker owns mini-car maker Daihatsu outright, has a 20-percent stake in Subaru, and holds five percent of Mazda. And while you may not hear too much about all the handshakes, there’s actually a lot going on there.

2025 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid Premium Plus

Background

For example: Completed in 2021, Mazda Toyota Manufacturing in Huntsville, Alabama, produces vehicles for—predictably—Mazda and Toyota. And while Toyota has a number of other North American assembly facilities, this is Mazda’s only factory in the Americas.

The facility churns out the well-reviewed Mazda CX-50 small crossover, and the Toyota Corolla Cross, also a small crossover. Because Mazda is not a large company by absolute automotive standards, sharing a factory with friend Toyota allowed the carmaker to achieve the scale necessary to operate a viable overseas car factory. It pays to have friends.

But the Mazda/Toyota relationship goes deeper. Like a number of other carmakers, Mazda recently realized that the road to full electrification isn’t as smooth as initially thought. Many U.S.-market car brands had planned to simply switch to producing electric vehicles at some point in the next five to ten years. The problem is, consumers aren’t embracing EVs at the hoped-for rate, but do seem to want to spend less on gasoline.

Hybrids

Now, this is great news for Toyota, the globe’s most prolific and proficient hybrid maker, but pretty bad news for most other carbuilders. General Motors, for example, has no hybrid models available for sale in the U.S. Likewise, Nissan’s popular Rogue compact crossover has seen a significant sales decline of late, much of which has been attributed to the lineup’s lack of a hybrid model.

Mazda, too, has been operating without a hybrid model, until rather recently. Plug-in-hybrid variants of the maker’s popular CX-70 and CX-90 are just now coming online. But, perhaps more importantly, thanks to Toyota—again, it pays to have friends—the brand’s CX-50 is now offered with a hybrid drivetrain.

Engines

Here’s the thing, Toyota already builds a hybrid version of the Corolla Cross right alongside the CX-50 assembly line, so…a deal was struck to supply Mazda with an engine similar to the one Toyota was already installing in the Corolla Cross. Enter the CX-50 Hybrid.

New for 2025, the CX-50 Hybrid features a 2.5-liter engine and three electric motors good for a combined 219 horsepower. The CX-50 Hybrid comes only with a CVT automatic transmission and AWD. The hybrid Mazda is EPA rated at a combined 37 mpg, well above the standard CX-50’s 28 mpg rating, and the turbo’s 25.

Prices and Trim Levels

The CX-50 Hybrid slots in price between the standard CX-50s (starting at $31,720), and the turbocharged models, which cap out at $44,720.

For 2025, the CX-50 Hybrid is offered in Preferred ($35,390), Premium ($38,820), and Premium Plus ($41,470) trim levels.

Consumer Guide recently spent a week behind the wheel of a Mazda CX-50 Hybrid Premium Plus in Machine Gray Metallic. Our early-production model did not come with a Monroney label; however, we estimate that our test vehicle came in close to the $41,470 base price.

With the exception of the drivetrain, the CX-50 Hybrid looks and feels very much like any other CX-50, and that’s a good thing. The cabin is classy and well screwed together, and exudes a generally upscale vibe. The infotainment screen is mounted dashtop, tablet style. The screen is not huge, but is clear and easy to read. The CX-50, like most Mazda’s makes use of the brand’s rotary-knob-style controller, which is a love-it or hate-it proposition for the Consumer Guide staff. This editor is a fan, as, once acclimated, a user can execute most simple tasks without looking down. The system is actually quite simple to use once the driver is familiar with it.

There’s plenty of room up front, even for large folk, and the rear seat is nearly as accommodating. Entering and exiting the ’50 is easy enough, thanks for a low step-in height and large door openings.

On the road, Mazda turbo fans are likely to be a little disappointed. The hybrid drivetrain does not delivery the top-end merging and passing power that the CX-50 Turbo does, however, the hybrid powertrain does produce a useful amount of low-end torque, which serves well in stop-and-go driving. Overall, the hybrid drivetrain comfortable out performs base CX-50 models, but doesn’t match turbocharged versions in overall performance.

All that said, the Toyota-supplied hybrid drivetrain is as smooth and quiet as any Mazda setup. We especially appreciate the slick engine stop/start system, powertrain quietness, and smooth power delivery. If Mazda was going to borrow a drivetrain from another carmaker, this was a good one to pick.

The Mazda does, however, share the brand’s generally sporty handling characteristics, and is fun to hustle around corners or around highway onramps. For whatever reason, the CX-50 Hybrid did seem to ride more firmly than other CX-50 models we’ve driven. We found overall ride quality to be very good, but would-be buyers are cautioned to take note of the ride during a test drive. We like things a little on the sporty side, you may not. For what it’s worth, cabin quietness is good for the class, and the Premium Plus’s standard audio system is very good.

In Consumer Guide testing, our test CX-50 returned an impressive 39 mpg, bettering the EPA estimate in relatively routine suburban driving.

Value

If you needed to pair one maker’s car with another’s drivetrain, the CX-50 packed full of Toyota hybrid goodness is a pretty good way to go. We’re glad to see one of Mazda’s best crossovers enjoy the efficiency benefits of a proven hybrid system, while remaining the classy and sharp-handling crossover we appreciate so much. And none of this would have happened if Mazda and Toyota weren’t so tight. It’s good to have friends.