Mazda CX-7 - it puts the 'sport' into sport utility

Why Mazda's new SUV has the agility and power of a sports car

Engine: 2.3-litre, four-cylinder, quad-valve, turbocharged.

Transmission: Six-speed manual, active torque all-wheel drive.

Maximum power/torque: 191kW at 5500rpm / 380Nm at 3000rpm.

Top speed: 208km/h, 0-100km/h eight seconds.

C02: 243g/km.

Fuel: 10.5 litres/100km (combined).

Price: ??23 330 (about R347 000).

It is more than halfway through the year so, like many of you, I'm wondering where the months have gone. I looked in my diary for the answer to my prolonged senior moment and found most of the entries referred to car launches .

To be honest, the mix of manufacturers and exotic destinations was all a little hazy, but then I noticed a pattern. Each month I had rolled up to at least two unveilings of an SUV.

While this seems to fly in the face of the alleged demise of the urban 4x4 it seems manufacturers are still keen to pursue this sector and I have the passport stamps to prove it. By the end of this year, there will be 65 different SUV's on the (British) market. From that you would think the segment is over-subscribed and that another SUV would be last thing any of us would need.

Mazda disagrees.

Except that it's not launching an SUV, it's asking us to squint a little and call the CX-7 a crossover.

This, for the more cynical of us, means the car doesn't neatly meet the criteria for one sector, or for another

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