Production officially began on February 20, 2006 in Mazda's Ujina #2 factory in Hiroshima, and went on sale in April 2006 as a 2007 model.

United Kingdom specification CX-7s featured the same, larger K04 turbocharger and transmission found in the Mazdaspeed line.

The CX-7 features fully independent suspension, four wheel ventilated disc brakes with standard anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control, and traction control, and a choice of either front-wheel drive, or Mazda's Active Torque Split all-wheel drive system.

[7] The Australian combined cycle official fuel economy is 11.5 L/100 km (25 mpg‑imp; 20.5 mpg‑US), similar to the Holden Captiva.

The interior gauges were revised, with blackout meters that featured three dimensional dials, a 3.5 inch super twisted nematic (STN) monochrome and 4.1 inch thin film transistor (TFT) colour Multi Information Display (MID), (positioned at the top of the instrument panel), Bluetooth compatibility, and a Blind Spot Monitoring System.

The CX-5 is classified as a compact crossover SUV, but nonetheless has similar interior dimensions, despite having a smaller footprint than the mid-size CX-7.

[20][21][22] It was initially expected that the CX-7 nameplate would be reused on an all-new seven-seater based on a stretched Mazda CX-5, due to the growing popularity of three-row crossovers.