Happy Friday! Welcome to this week’s edition of the Official DoubleClutch.ca News Rundown, where we recap the top automotive headlines from the week that was in one convenient package. Let’s go.
Mazda delays its next EV to focus on hybrids
Life as a small, mostly independent car company isn’t easy. It all comes down to money — and when you’re a small, mostly independent car company like Mazda, you have to watch where you blow it.
That’s why, according to Automotive News, Mazda is “still assessing its timeline” for EVs in the North American market. Following the less-than-competitive MX-30, the automaker originally promised a second, far more fleshed-out EV developed in-house for 2027. It’s still happening, but a flurry of recent economic developments — tariffs, shifting EV demand, the usual — now means Mazda has reportedly delayed its next EV until 2029.
Mazda does sell EVs — the Mazda 6e and the recently revealed CX-6e — but given they’re jointly developed with Chinese automaker Changan Automobile, the 6e and CX-6e are exclusive to Europe and China. It’ll be interesting to see what last week’s tariff announcement means for Mazda’s overseas-market EVs in the next year or so.
But in the meantime, Mazda says while they’ll still be chipping away at their next in-house-developed EV, they’ll focus on hybrids a little more, starting with the CX-5 hybrid due out next year.
Two Nissans ‘return’ to Canada for 2026
Yup, it’s the t-word again. Nissan hit the pause button mid last year on imports of its U.S.-built vehicles, including the Pathfinder, Murano, and Frontier. A few months ago, Nissan resumed availability of the Pathfinder albeit with a slimmed-down lineup, and it’s now doing the same with the 2026 Murano and Frontier.
The 2026 Murano will be available in a single trim — the top-spec Platinum — at $58,498. That’s a $4,000 bump compared to last year’s price tag for the Platinum, and a more than $10,000 increase compared to the base SV trim’s $46,848 starting price.
It’s a similar story for the 2026 Frontier, except Nissan is offering a bit more choice. The lower-end, lower-priced SV and SL trims are gone, because most Frontier buyers opted for the Pro-4X, anyway. Now, the Pro-4X is your jumping-off-point, at $56,498 to start with the five-foot bed. That’s a $3,000 increase compared to the 2025 Frontier.
From there, you can step up to the Pro-4X Luxury with the five-foot bed at $59,498, or with the six-foot bed for $60,098.
2026 Audi A5, Q5 get more buttons
Fresh off a redesign last year, Audi is already throwing in some quality-of-life improvements into the 2026 A5 and Q5.
Though the hardware is still the same, Audi simplified the menu structure and interface behind the 14.5-inch OLED touchscreen controlling the main infotainment system. Audi’s voice-activated digital assistant gets some new animations as well, and the 11.9-inch Virtual Cockpit instrument cluster gets a similarly simplified structure, along with the ability to mirror more smartphone apps.
The optional 10.9-inch passenger display sees similar updates, and can now support a second Bluetooth headset so whoever is riding shotgun can really immserse themselves into their own bubble. But the update we’re most excited about is the squircle steering wheel: Audi replaced the touch-sensitive mini trackpads with physical scroll wheels. Praise be.
The updated A5 and Q5 will hit Canadian dealers in March. Pricing will be announced closer to then.
Bonus: Forza Horizon 6 is coming this May, and it’s set in Japan
My body is ready.
