CX-9 is go!

JUST days after it announced the leather-lined luxury version of its upcoming 175kW/350Nm 2.3-litre turbocharged five-seat SUV will be priced below $50,000 on the road, Mazda Australia has confirmed the CX-7's larger stablemate will also be sold Down Under.

While Australia will be the world's first right-hand drive market to receive the CX-7 (from mid-November), we'll have to wait until early 2008 for the 186kW/325Nm 3.5-litre V6-powered CX-9 seven-seater to arrive.

Mazda Motor Corporation held a line-off ceremony at Ujina Plant No.1 near Hiroshima on Monday to mark the commencement of left-hook CX-9 production for the US.

Mazda will re-engineer the CX-9 – the company's third SUV and its first three-row offering - for RHD production exclusively for Australia. CX-9 is an imposing 5071mm long, features all-wheel drive, a six-speed automatic transmission, and 18 and 20-inch wheels.