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Kodo and Shinari define new Mazda design direction

words - Mike Sinclair
Mazda has defined its new design direction with a new show car - that's not coming to a show near you
discount new cars  » Get the best price on a new Mazda Nagare is no more. The new design direction of Mazda has been defined with a new name and a new show car. But the latter will not be displayed at the all-important Paris Motor Show coming up next month.

Mazda's new design direction is called Kodo. Defined as "The Soul of Motion", it is the brainchild of new chief designer, Ikuo Maeda. The son of the man who was the designer of the original Series 1 RX-7 in the late 1970s, and himself the designer of the RX-8, Maeda replaced Laurens Van den Acker as head of Mazda's design arm after the Dutchman moved to Renault last year.

Maeda says the new Kodo language moves forward from the "natural flow" of the effectively stillborn Nagare genre to a new era of a more "athletic" form. He says Kodo has been inspired by the "precise movements" of both the natural world (citing predators like the cheetah) and "the speed and deliberate intention" of Japanese martial arts such as Kendo.

Unlike Nagare which essentially failed to make the transition from concept to mass market models, Kodo themes are already slated to make their way to production. Indeed it is almost certain the next generation Mazda6 due in 2013 will feature elements explored in the new design language. Thereafter the Kodo language will be incorporated into all new Mazda models.

Mazda's new platform, debuted in Berlin late last week is "harmonised" with the Kodo language, says insiders. Mazda's designers have also already begun work on injecting the new design elements into a diverse range of vehicles from small hatches to SUVs, Maeda-san says.

But right now, the vehicle that defines the new language is Shinari. The large, five-door showcar was unveiled as "the pure definition of the Kodo concept" at the first day of the Global Mazda Design Workshop in Milan, Italy yesterday (August 30).

Undoubtedly spectacular but to some out of step with the environmentally focussed bent of Mazda's just unveiled SKY engine and drivetrain technologies, Shinari was penned by Mazda's Korean-born but Hiroshima-based stylist, Cho Yong Wook.

In a move that to the best of the writer's knowledge is unique, Mazda allowed its clay modellers to help pick which designs from around the Mazda world would progress from paper to clay stage. Wook's work was then selected by Maeda to represent the new language.

Shinari features a prominent and distinctive new 'face' with aggressive unglazed light structures. Though Mazda's trademark trapezoidal grille makes an appearance, the defining element is the prominent new 'Signature Wing'. This feature runs from the Aston-esque fender side vents, through the light structures and under the grille and is highlighted with LED illumination. It is further framed by low-set LED daylight running lamps.

Shinari's glasshouse is cropped vertically with its high point located above the rear seats. It tapers with considerable tumblehome pushing its occupants well inboard.

From the side view the new theme's long bonnet and cab-rearward proportions are obvious. Though Maeda says these proportions are more typical of rear-wheel drive vehicles, he says he has "challenged" his design teams around the world to retain them in the front-wheel drive vehicles that dominate Mazda's production line-up.

In true showcar tradition, Shinari features a glazed polycarbonate roof and rolls on wide 21-inch rubber. Its proportions are Large Car rather than those closer to the medium car underpinnings on which it is built.

Though formally a five-door hatch, it has a four-door sedan profile. In the flesh it's perhaps most easily described as Maserati Quattroporte meets RX-8, though it eschews its stablemate's suicide rear doors.

The interior too is said to give a taste of things to come from Mazda.

Designed by Julien Montousse, it features a driver-focussed cocooning cockpit with next generation integrated controls, gearshifter et al. In contrast it seeks to deliver passengers a more relaxed 'lounge like' experience.

Individual bucket seats for four are provided and Mazda says Shinari would feature an advanced HMI (human machine interface) that combines both Mazda and open sourced apps in the best iPhone and iPad tradition.

Based at Mazda's Irvine (California, USA) studio, Montousse commenced work on the interior in late 2009 just weeks after Wook's external design was penned.

According to Maeda-san, key elements of the car including the fine A and C-pillars are not feasible for production. At least not just yet... The necessity to accommodate crash structures and airbags would see these elements grow substantially in cross-section. He opines that new techniques and materials could change this in the not too distant future, however.

The new design chief says via Kodo he wants Mazda to lead the automotive world in "three dimensional form language".
Though it is likely to make a public appearance some time down the track, for the moment Shinari is off limits. In a shock move, the car will not be displayed at the Paris salon -- despite US reports to the contrary.

Mazda officials were being coy with the reasons why in Milan, but conceded that the extravagant proportions of the new design icon may not sit well with the environmental bent of the French exhibition.

Related reading:
>> Mazda SKY powertrain technology: petrol and diesel SKY engines, and SKY-Drive six-speed automatic and manual transmissions
>> New Mazda platform to suit SKY petrol and diesel powertrains

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 Powered By Motoring.com.au Published : Monday, 30 August 2010


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