The Mazda CX-50, the compact crossover SUV that has been in North American markets since January this year, and Car and Driver believe its rugged design is a radical departure from Mazda’s more refined style The car was designed on the same transverse, front-wheel-drive platform as the CX-30 and the fourth-generation Mazda 3. The Mazda CX-50 is sold alongside its smaller counterpart, the CX-5. It has similar legroom to the CX-5, but according to Cars.com, its car seats might leave taller occupants feeling hard done by.
How Did the Car Seats Perform?
Although the CX-50’s Latch anchors are reported to be easy to use, and scored an A in Cars.com’s Car Seat Check, the SUV’s rear-facing and forward-facing convertible seats, and infant and booster seats, all scored a B.
Source: Cars.com 
The latch system scored highly because of their ease of access as well as connection. The system is clearly labelled, although it has to be dug out to be accessed.
Car and Driver find that the front seats are both “comfortable and supportive”, and that the rear seats get generous space. However, they found that the CX-5 gives occupants more headroom than the CX-50.
This aligns with what Cars.com found. In their testing, they found the infant seat to be easily installable, but the front passenger seat had to be pushed forward to install it. The front passenger seat had good-but-not-great legroom, suggesting that taller occupants would find them uncomfortable. The rear-facing convertible seat was also easy to install, but once again, its legroom was good-but-not-great. Forward-facing convertible was also easy to install, fitting well once the head restraint was removed. However, the top tether anchor had to be dug out from the carpet. The booster was also easy to install once the head restraint was removed. However, the team felt that it would be difficult for children to use the buckle stalks.
For parents looking to fit in car seats for their infants, overall, the Mazda CX-50’s car seat options were disappointing. This is because there was not enough room and there were connection issues, and accessing the third row proved problematic.
How Were the Tests Conducted?
For their car seat check, Cars.com worked with its editors, Jennifer Geiger and Jennifer Newman, who are certified child safety seat installation experts. They used a Chicco KeyFit 30 infant-safety key, GracoTurboBooster seat, and a Graco Contender 65 convertible seat to test out the CX-50’s seating. They adjusted the front seat for a 6-foot driver, and then for a shorter occupant. They installed the child seats in the second row. There was no room for a fourth. So they had a booster seat behind the sriver, and a convertible and infant seat behind the front passenger.
They installed the forward-facing convertible seat in the middle seat in the second row, with the infant and booster seats in the outboard seats, to see if the seats would all fit and if the child in the booster seat could get to the seat belt buckle. In the third row, they installed the booster and forward-facing convertible seats.