Zinc Green Metallic joins updated Mazda MX-5 range in Australia as prices rise

Updated MX-5 opens for order in Australia

Mazda Australia has updated the MX-5 with additional safety technology and a refreshed cabin for its flagship variants, and the updated car is now available to order, with customer deliveries to commence this month. CarExpert, which published the Australian pricing and specification details, notes a quirk in the model-year labelling: it reports that Mazda calls the updated car a 2026 model despite the year being almost over, while the published pricing tables carry the 2027 model designation. ¹

Prices rise across the board, with a bigger jump for GT RS

List prices, which exclude on-road costs, have risen across the entire Australian MX-5 range, CarExpert reports. Most variants have increased by $1950, while the GT RS variants receive a larger hike of $4950. ¹

CarExpert's published price list shows the 2027 MX-5 G20 Roadster manual now at $44,590 before on-road costs, with the Roadster GT at $51,240 in manual and $52,740 in automatic form. The Roadster GT RS manual is listed at $57,240. On the RF side, the G20 RF GT manual is $55,740, the RF GT automatic $57,240, the RF GT Black Roof Tan Leather automatic $58,260, and the RF GT RS manual $61,740, all before on-road costs. ¹

Zinc Green Metallic: a green first for the ND generation

Zinc Green Metallic has joined the Australian MX-5 exterior palette, and CarExpert reports it gives the roadster its first green paint option in Australia in ten years. The finish is available on both Roadster and RF body styles and joins an otherwise unchanged colour list comprising Snowflake White Pearl Mica, Soul Red Crystal Metallic, Deep Crystal Blue Mica, Jet Black Mica, Machine Grey Metallic and Aero Grey Metallic. ¹

Mazda has detailed the new paint's origin in its own press material. According to Mazda, Zinc Green was inspired not by a landscape or animal but by the colour and texture of zinc chromate primer, an industrial pre-coating used to increase the durability of industrial products. Mazda says the paint contains bluish metallic flakes whose particle size and alignment were optimised, so it appears more compact and solid in low light and takes on a finer metallic shimmer in brighter conditions. ²

Mazda announced the colour publicly at the Karuizama Meeting 2026, which it describes as the world's largest gathering of MX-5 fans and owners, held in Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. In its press material, Mazda notes it has offered around eighty different green tones across its model generations and says Zinc Green is the first green tone introduced for the fourth-generation (ND) MX-5, in response to demand from fans of the roadster. ²

On timing, Mazda says production of Zinc Green on the MX-5 begins in October 2026, after which the colour will be rolled out gradually to other Mazda model lines. In its German-market materials, Mazda states the metallic paint will be introduced at market in early 2027, although the CarExpert report indicates the updated car is already available to order in Australia with deliveries starting this month. ²³¹

More safety kit and Recaro seats return for GT RS

CarExpert reports that all Australian MX-5s now feature lane-keep assist in addition to the existing lane-departure warning, and that the autonomous emergency braking system now detects cyclists in addition to vehicles and pedestrians. ¹

The flagship GT RS variants gain standard Recaro bucket seats upholstered in Nappa leather and Alcantara with light grey stitching, according to CarExpert, which also notes Alcantara now trims the dashboard, centre console, console lid and door cards. CarExpert adds that Recaro seats last appeared in an Australian-market MX-5 on the 2019 30th Anniversary Edition, of which just 30 examples came to Australia, though they have been offered since then in overseas markets. ¹

Powertrain unchanged locally, with overseas updates worth noting separately

Australian MX-5s continue with a naturally aspirated 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine producing 135kW and 205Nm, paired with either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission, CarExpert reports. The local powertrain specification is unchanged by this update. ¹

In other markets the 2027 MX-5 update differs from the Australian one. In its German press material, Mazda says the 1.5-litre Skyactiv-G naturally aspirated engine for that market rises to 100kW/136PS and 155Nm, with combined fuel consumption of 6.1L/100km and CO2 emissions of 139g/km, alongside drivetrain updates and revised engine acoustics. That 1.5-litre specification is not offered in the Australian range described by CarExpert, and the two engine figures should not be read as applying to the same vehicles. ³¹

The German-market update also includes other changes not announced for Australia: Mazda's press material lists a Bilstein sports suspension and front strut brace plus black 16-inch RAYS light-alloy wheels for the HOMURA grade, a new YAKUDO special edition based on HOMURA with a light grey soft top, silver Brembo brake calipers and Alcantara interior trim, and a driver attention assist standard across all grades. These items are specific to the overseas range and have not been announced for the Australian specification. ³