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Mazda CX-50 Meridian Edition Adds Off-Road Appeal

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Steven Ewing Former managing editor
Steven Ewing spent his childhood reading car magazines, making his career as an automotive journalist an absolute dream job. After getting his foot in the door at Automobile while he was still a teenager, Ewing found homes on the mastheads at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog and Motor1.com before joining the CNET team in 2018. He has also served on the World Car Awards jury. Ewing grew up ingrained in the car culture of Detroit -- the Motor City -- before eventually moving to Los Angeles. In his free time, Ewing loves to cook, binge trash TV and play the drums.
Steven Ewing
2 min read
2023 Mazda CX-50 Meridian Edition
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2023 Mazda CX-50 Meridian Edition

Polymetal Gray is one of two colors available on the Meridian Edition.

Mazda

What's happening

Mazda is launching a new Meridian Edition package for the CX-50 crossover that adds a little more off-road capability.

Why it matters

The Meridian Edition comes with all-terrain tires and 18-inch wheels, as well as a few visual upgrades.

What's next

The Meridian Edition arrives with the rest of the 2023 CX-50 lineup and costs $41,225 including destination.

Mazda's new CX-50 already has more of a go-anywhere-do-anything vibe than the brand's other crossovers, and on Tuesday, the automaker announced a new Meridian Edition that further leans into that off-road cred. Available exclusively on the CX-50 Turbo, the Meridian Edition adds new wheels and tires, some aesthetic upgrades and gives customers the ability to fit things like crossbars, a roof platform, splash guards and more.

The wheel and tire package is arguably the most significant upgrade. The Meridian Edition comes with 18-inch black wheels wrapped in 225/60 Falken all-terrain tires, which should improve the CX-50's ability to handle things like dirt, mud, snow and so on. Other Meridian Edition tweaks include new headlight trim and a matte black hood decal. You can only order this package with Polymetal Gray or Zircon Sand exterior colors. Inside, you're locked into Terracotta leather with some black trim.

2023 Mazda CX-50 Meridian Edition
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2023 Mazda CX-50 Meridian Edition

Zircon Sand is the best color.

Mazda

The standard Meridian Edition costs $41,225 (including $1,275 for destination), making it $2,800 more expensive than the base CX-50 Turbo. If you want to take things a step further, Mazda offers a $1,235 Apex package for the Meridian Edition that comes with black roof crossbars, a roof platform and splash guards at all four wheels.

If you don't want to shell out for the full-on Meridian Edition, there's also a $1,899 Meridian Choice pack that's available for all CX-50 models, not just the Turbo. This is a dealer-installed option that adds the aforementioned crossbars, roof platform, splash guards, headlight trim, hood decal and more. The only things you don't get are the better wheels and tires, but hey, that's an easy aftermarket upgrade.

Aside from the Meridian Edition, the Mazda CX-50 carries into the 2023 model year unchanged. However, all 2023 CX-50 models have a $750 price increase, with the base MSRP for a non-turbo CX-50 2.5 S starting at $28,825 including destination.

2023 Mazda CX-50 Adds Rugged Meridian Edition

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