Mazda CX-5 vs INFINITI QX30

Just because you need more practicality, doesn't necessarily mean you'll have to sacrifice driving enjoyment or performance. Among compact SUVs, the 2025 Mazda CX-5 proves that you can satisfy your sporty appetite in an attractive and upscale alternative.

Verdict: The CX-5 offers an enjoyable driving experience, but it falls short in practical areas like fuel economy and cargo space.

Crossovers are the hottest segment in the automotive landscape, and compact crossovers represent the hot spot within that booming category. Infiniti had a high-riding wagon in the form of the EX35 (the current QX50), but it needed something fresh and new in a hurry. So what to do? Rather than building a whole new tiny SUV from the ground up, it borrowed from a competitor.

In an unlikely arrangement between Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti parent company Renault, the German automaker provided Infiniti with the GLA-Class platform as the basis of an all-new compact crossover: the 2017 Infiniti QX30.

Originally, the QX30 was supposed to be two separate vehicles; the Q30 hatchback and the QX30 crossover. Infiniti has revamped the names for its entire lineup, replacing the G37 with the Q50 and the M37 with the Q70. Each crossover and SUV model became a QX, followed by a number based on its size. The brass at Infiniti must have felt that two very similar cars with two different names was confusing, so it combined the two, violating its own naming convention… which is also confusing.