The rear of the new CX-5 ditches the quad lights for a hooked strip reminiscent of BMW, and swaps the Mazda badge for text between the lights. The lights aren't a bad look, but they're a little bit less distinctly Mazda — a shame to see from an automaker that's stood out so well on styling. The text, though, is a really nice look for the crossover. Underneath that liftgate, Mazda claims an expanded cargo area with a lower lift-over height, which buyers ought to enjoy. Heaving enormous bags of dog food into the back of a crossover is no one's idea of a good time, and any automaker that makes the process easier gets a gold star in my book. The new CX-5 will have a 2.5-liter inline-4 at launch, putting a claimed 187 horsepower and 185 pound-feet of torque to all four wheels through a six-speed automatic gearbox, but Mazda claims a hybrid variant is in the works for the 2027 model year. That should make for a very interesting fight with the much-loved Toyota RAV4 hybrid, one in which price will play a heavy factor — a price Mazda has yet to reveal, for any variant of the new crossover. All in all, the new CX-5 is an upgrade. Whether you love or loathe the exterior changes, Mazda has made room for some solid improvements beneath the skin — improvements that actual owners of the car should love, regardless of what those of us who just look at it on our computer screens think. At the end of the day, that's who carmakers should really be thinking about anyway.