27/08/2008 20:24. Mazda is considering releasing its world flagship, the giant 3.7-litre CX-9 SUV, in South Africa.

It's the biggest vehicle in the company's line-up at slightly more than five metres long, 1.9 wide and 1.7 high but Mazda is the Zoom-Zoom company so the CX-9 looks more like a very big sports car than an off-roader with its very raked windscreen, wrap-around headlights and rising belt line.

The tail treatment is dominated by a big bumper, a roof spoiler and two trapezoidal tail pipes and the profile is all about 10-spoked, 20" alloy rims.

The CX-9 has Mazda's most powerful engine, a 3

The cabin provides spacious seating for six in three rows with (optional) leather trim, indirect lighting, chromed and "wood-like" trim accents and a high-tech instrument cluster with black-faced dials.

The... // Motoring