With the launch of the Mazda CX-30, there’s been a lot of confusion as to its positioning: will it or won’t it replace the CX-3? Though officially, the CX-3 lives on for now, we may have a clearer picture now for smaller markets such as the Philippines given that Mazda has finally revealed the prices of the CX-30 in its home market of Japan. And quite frankly, things don’t look so good for the CX-3.

Before that though, it’s time for a bit of CX-30 refresher.

Launched at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, the CX-30 represents Mazda’s move to add more crossovers to their line-up simply because there’s an insatiable demand for them globally. However, in typical Mazda fashion, the CX-30 plays by its own rules and with that, is more of a design-centric crossover than a utilitarian one.

Like the all-new Mazda3 on which the CX-30 is based on, it embodies the KODO design, only here designers were inspired by a single calligraphy stroke that results in the speedy arc from the front fender to the rear tire. It also plays with light forming an S-shaped curve as the car moves. And like the Mazda3, it comes with the newly-developed Polymetal Gray Metallic along with the Soul Red Crystal and Machine Gray.


Underpinned by the Skyactiv-Vehicle Architecture, the CX-30 takes advantage of human-centric design to realize a comfortable ride and stable handling by tapping into innate human senses thereby reducing discomfort or stress while driving. Like the Mazda3, it uses a front MacPherson Strut and rear Torsion Beam suspension.

Unlike the Mazda3 though, the CX-30 gains a more generous 175 mm of ground clearance (higher than the CX-3) while also adding a new Off-Road Traction Assist for vehicles equipped with all-wheel drive. With this, Mazda says the AWD system and traction control system will cooperate to maximize the transmission of force to the wheels with the most traction available.


Dimensionally, the CX-30 is longer (4,395 mm versus 4,275 mm) and wider (1,795 mm versus 1,765 mm) than the current CX-3. It keeps the same overall height (1,540 mm) though. Interestingly, the wheelbase, 2,655 mm approaches levels close to the CX-5’s 2,700 mm. All in all, it results in larger rear accommodations and bigger cargo room. In fact, Mazda proudly states that the CX-30’s cargo opening is at 1,020 mm—enabling it to fit baby strollers and travel bags at the same time. Oh, and power tailgate is standard on most variants.

With all these advancements, it’s quite surprising that the CX-30 and the current CX-3 don’t differ too much from pricing. In Japan at least, the CX-3 and CX-30 are not more than 12 percent apart. In fact, on higher-end variants, the difference is as little as 8 percent! This makes the CX-30 a more value-for-money choice than the CX-3 (see table below).


Projecting how Mazda Philippines prices the lone CX-3 variant at P 1,300,000, it’s about 16 percent more expensive to its Japanese counterpart. With that in mind, the CX-30 may enter the Philippine market anywhere between P 1.330 million to P 1.687 million for variants equipped with the 2.0-liter Skyactiv-G, enabling Mazda to better compete against both the Honda HR-V and Subaru XV. And this move is entirely possible given their move to reduce the CX-3 to a single variant for 2020 and that the entry-level CX-5 stands at P 1.680 million.