Mazda is well-known for producing vehicles with uncommon handling precision and exceptional driving feel. Now the brand is bringing those attributes to another type of motoring — off-road. It’s a departure but it tracks the rise in popularity of SUVs and crossovers. The all-new 2022 Mazda CX-50 is the standard-bearer in the move off-road. In this episode of America on the road we give the vehicle a very thorough road test in the hills outside Santa Barbara, California. Host Jack Nerad drove the Mazda CX-50 through the dirt and along the ridgelines.

In the same episode, Co-Host Chris Teague tests an off-road specialist — the 2022 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro. The Tacoma has had a decades-long history as a stalwart off-road pickup, and the TRD Pro variant takes those capabilities to a new level.

Continuing with the off-road theme, our special guest is David Partlow, chief engineer on the 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe. Host Jack Nerad recently had a chance to drive the plug-in hybrid version of the new Grand Cherokee outside Austin, Texas, and it was impressive. We’ll get all the details from its chief engineer in the interview segment.

Photo: Jack R. Nerad

In the news this week a security firm has demonstrated that Teslas’ door locks are vulnerable to hackers. We’ll give you details on that.

And a prominent online retailer just dumped a big portion of its workforce as it goes through tough times. We’ll have more on that too.

All that and more coming up in this episode of “America on the Road.”