With the launch of the upcoming compact CX-5 crossover, Mazda will be embarking on an entirely new design direction. The automaker’s new Kodo design language is an attempt to continue to the brand’s sporting look while also creating vehicles that will age well over time.
Elements of the new Kodo design language include a toned-down grille with a stylized Mazda flying wing contour extending under the grille and over the headlamps. The rear of the CX-5 will also feature bunched-up lines that are intended to convey a muscular look.
“It looks like an animal ready to pounce,” global design chief Ikuo Maeda said at the Shanghai auto show.
For years, Mazda has hyped the fluid, wavelike Nagare design language. But when Nagare’s champion, former Mazda design chief Laurens van den Acker, left the company for Renault, Mazda quickly shifted gears. The automaker is also looking to ditch the broad ‘smiley-face’ grilles introduced by van den Acker in models such as the Mazda3.
“I want to overhaul the entire lineup this way. It will take more than three years,” Maeda said. “It will take a long time, but that’s what we’ll do. And Kodo will evolve over time.”
You must log in to post a comment.