MAZDA CX-80 PHEV

Another look at Mazda's hefty SUV, this time in plug-in hybrid form

- MATT SAUNDERS

The seven-seat follow-up to Mazda's CX-60 of 2022 has just arrived in the UK.

It is ostensibly a CX-60 stretched by 250mm in the wheelbase and can be had with a choice of either six or seven seats - and, depending on trim level, either with an extra centre console between the secondrow 'captain's chairs' or without one, should you prefer easier walk-through access to row three.

That six-seater walk-through layout could make the car quite appealing to parents of younger children, I'd say. The CX-80 also has longer rear passenger doors than the 60, opening to a wider angle to make it easier to fold yourself into that back row from the kerb.

The second-row chairs slide and tumble forwards, but even after they have, it's still a squeeze to get behind them for adults, and space once you're in isn't as generous as the biggest seven-seaters. Those sliding, reclining second-row seats do feel more spacious than the CX-60's. For bigger families, though, I suspect a Hyundai Santa Fe offers a roomier third row.