It's slightly bigger and they're trying to make it more "rugged/off-road" looking, yeah. Personally, I think it's stupid to have 2 different vehicles for the same segment...just offer a more "offroad version" as a trim package, not an entirely different vehicle with 9 ****ing trim levels.
This could be the same scenario that happened with the CX-3 / CX-30. Eventually the CX-3 was cancelled. With the CX-50 and the CX-70 coming on line this will put pressure on the CX-5.