The Daily Auto Insider
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
February 2004

Mazda plans to launch an "upmarket" sport utility vehicle in North America in 2006, Reuters reported, citing a story in Japan's Nihon Keizai newspaper.

The paper said the SUV would be based on the Mazda6/Atenza sedan, use a 3,000cc to 3,500cc engine made by Ford, which owns one-third of Mazda, and be priced between $30,000 and $40,000.

Mazda would aim for annual sales of 50,000 units.

A spokesman said the company had no comment, but stopped short of denying the report, the story said.

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....rticle_id=7820

This is not going to be a clone of the Ford Freestyle, which is based on the Ford Five Hundred/Mercury Montego sedan platform (itself being derived from but not a copy of the Volvo S80). I've seen the Freestyle in person and it's about the size of a Pontiac Aztek or Buick Rendezvous. I'm guessing this Mazda6-based SUV will be more in line with say, the Nissan Murano, Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, etc.