Mazda today released the first pictures of the 2012 CX-5 crossover, the production version of the Miyagi concept, ahead of its world debut at IAA.

2012 Mazda CX-5 is the first car to feature the firm’s new KODO design language. Thanks to that, the smiley face of the previous models is now gone and has been replaced with a grin!

It is a fairly good-looking car and benefits from a full range of SKYACTIV technologies, including all-new Mazda gasoline and diesel engines, manual and automatic transmissions, body and chassis – the CX-5 delivers precise handling responses and a high-quality ride, matched with outstanding environmental credentials and an advanced safety performance.

What’s a bit shocking is the interior. Given the current Mazda3, which has one of the busiest interior designs ever, the bland and rather boring dashboard of the CX-5 comes as a bit of a surprise. It’s really not a big selling point for this car. Actually, quite the opposite. It could do harm to it.

The engine lineup or Mazda CX-5 (Euro-spec) include Mazda’s SKYACTIV-G 2.0 gasoline engine and SKYACTIV-D 2.2 diesel engine, which will be available in Standard Power and High Power versions. Mazda has not announced performance figures yet, but they say CO2 target is less than 120g/km for the SKYACTIV-D 2.2 engined model.

The CX-5 will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motorshow in September along with the the upgraded Mazda3, which has now lower CO2 emissions and better quality.