LA MOTOR SHOW: Fresh CX-5 just one Mazda

Mazda looks set to make a big splash at this year's Los Angeles motor show in November, indicating it will debut at least two new models.

Speaking at this week's launch of the Mazda3 XD Astina sports diesel, Mazda Australia marketing chief Alastair Doak said we should "expect to be surprised" by "more than one" reveal by Mazda – not least of which will be a refreshed CX-5.

Doak's comments add fuel to reports earlier this week that a born-again RX-7 is imminent, although existing Mazda models are also due to be refreshed in quick succession, beginning with Australia's top-selling SUV, the CX-5.

Spy photos of the facelifted CX-5 surfaced on the net a fortnight ago, bolstering the view that an updated version of Mazda's mid-size crossover is mere months away. The revisions to the CX-5, launched here in 2012, are expected to be more evolutionary than revolutionary, but a new grille – styled similarly to that of the new Mazda2 to be released in November – new lighting clusters with LED running lamps, and LED indicators on the wing mirrors are likely.

Mazda's quicker model-cycle turnaround is expected to also apply to the Mazda6, which will score an all-new interior next year. Mazda has said previously that its largest passenger car will undergo major changes when it is facelifted and the mid-size sedan and wagon is expected to receive a new centre console and dashboard featuring the Mazda3's larger dash-top infotainment screen – followed by sheetmetal changes as early as 2016, despite being launched only last year.

The same year will see the Mazda3 receive a light refresh. As with most mid-life upgrades, mild re-profiling of the bumpers, new alloy wheels and perhaps a new colour palette are be expected for the Japanese car-maker's current best-seller – but like the Mazda6 it could also receive midlife sheetmetal updates.

By then the Mazda3 should also be offered with the smaller-capacity 1.5-litre turbo-diesel seen in Europe's new Mazda2, bringing an entry-level oil-burning option to compliment the $40k-plus XD Astina diesel sports hatch in what Mazda hopes will be Australia's top-selling model.

But the big news for Mazda hot hatch fans is the belated return of the Mazda3 MPS as part of the facelifted 2016 Mazda3 line-up, powered by a new turbocharged version of Mazda's 2.5-litre petrol four that will also be fitted exclusively to the second-generation CX-9 due earlier that year. Expect the new Mazda3 MPS to deliver at least 225kW to the road, possibly via an all-wheel drive system derived from the CX-5 and CX-9.

Meantime, apart from ditching the Ford-derived V6 it currently employs, the all-new and all-four-cylinder large seven-seat crossover will migrate to a SKYACTIV platform for the first time – the final Mazda passenger car to do – offering more space inside while being smaller outside, and bringing a new suite of safety and multimedia systems.

And speaking of smaller outside, Mazda's first compact SUV, the all-new CX-3, is tipped to be with us in less than 12 months – by mid-2015. Set to compete with the likes of the Holden Trax and Ford EcoSport, the CX-3 will offer similar drivetrains and technology offerings as the newly launched Mazda2 hatch on which it is based, albeit in a higher-riding package.

Mazda Australia is still holding out for a facelifted version of its BT-50, similar to the one its Ford Ranger twin will receive in mid-2015, but has ruled out the Mazda3 hybrid and may also choose not import a potential plug-in version of its new Mazda2, and the company's first diesel-electric hybrid, which is due by early 2017 and could consume as little as 2.5L/100km.

The production version of Mazda's reincarnated RX-7 coupe, based on the same rear-drive SKYACTIV platform as next year's new-generation MX-5, is due to lob in 2017 – 50 years after the Cosmo – perhaps followed in 2020 (the year Mazda celebrates its centenary) by an even more serious rotary-powered coupe, the RX-9 supercar.

While the lighter, smaller fourth-generation MX-5 soft-top will be revealed in the US on September 3, it won't be launched globally until next year, nor released in Australia until mid-2015 – but it could spawn a hard-top version a year later.

Before either RX sports coupe emerges, the second-generation CX-5 will be launched as the first instalment of Mazda's seventh-generation model range, featuring only subtle changes to its chassis but a new bodyshell 'top-hat', marking a return to Mazda's pre-SKYACTIV product cycles, which saw an all-new model produced only every second generation.

-motoring.com