Mazda Shinari concept - First Look

The world gets its first look at Mazda’s new design language with the unveil of its latest concept – before auto show season begins.

By Matt DeLorenzo

From: http://www.roadandtrack.com/

Photos: Mazda Shinari concept >>

With the Mazda Shinari concept, the Japanese automaker is turning the page on its “flow” inspired Nagare design theme in favor of a new, more dynamic design lexicon called Kodo. Future Mazda products will incorporate the concept’s strong character lines and powerful look, according to Ikuo Maeda, the carmaker’s global head of design.

Some elements of traditional Mazda design cues will be retained, such as the five-point grille and the prominent front fender shape, but the 4-door Shinari embodies a new look that blends sharp character lines with sculpted body shapes to convey a sense of power and elegance.

Based on a hypothetical C/D platform slightly larger than the current Mazda6, the Shinari is a pure design exercise rather than a precursor of a production model. Some of the unique styling touches include the use of satin finish metal accents that frame the bottom of the grille and splay out through the headlamp openings. This strip seems to travel through the wheel arch and re-emerges as a side vent accent. This strip is also indirectly lit when the headlamps are turned on, giving the car a distinctive look in the dark.

In addition to crisp character lines, the overall shape features a pronounced cab rearward proportion. This makes the rear haunch look more powerful, while the long hood and dash-to-axle ratio imparts a sense of speed. The designers’ intent is to make the Shinari look like it’s moving even when it’s standing still.

The cabin features a cockpit layout for the driver with a layered instrument binnacle that sweeps down into the center console, separating the driver from the passenger. The center stack is essentially an open space in which additional controls and the shifter are located. Atop that stack is an auxiliary navigation screen and entertainment systems. Even though the main binnacle in front of the driver is tall, the rest of the cabin has an open, uncluttered appearance enhanced by a glass roof that lets in a lot of light.

Overall, the new Kodo design philosophy is very Italian in its execution, capturing the kind of passion and energy seen in exotic car designs. It’s a look Maeda believes can be used on both passenger sedans like the 6 and future replacements for the MX-5 Miata and RX-8.

Hard Times at the LA Auto Show

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The movement of the crowds at the semi-funereal 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show said it all. No one, it seemed, wanted to hang out with the most beleaguered of the Detroit automakers, Chrysler and GM. As plenty of attendees noticed, Chrysler’s large expanse of showroom floor was all but empty most hours of the day. Same across the room at the General Motors stand: Aside from a small group milling about the Chevy Volt, all was quiet. The mob of journalists appeared smaller than normal this year, and they congregated around the imports: Nissan attracted a good crowd, as did the German manufacturers and Hyundai. Aside from Ford, which did its best to put on a happy face, Detroit was present mostly as the constant subject of grim conversations. “This is the last auto show ever, you know,” joked a journalist friend. We laughed, sadly, and then thought ahead to January—what will the Detroit auto show be like?

During Nissan CEO Carlos Gohsn’s keynote address the opening morning, it was possible to imagine a post-Detroit future. While the CEOs of Detroit’s Big 3 were in Washington, taking their lashes before an unsympathetic congress, Gohsn was speaking soberly and authoritatively about the challenges at hand and convincingly about Nissan’s plans to deliver mass-market electric cars within the next two or three years. In a post-Detroit future, Asian automakers would probably rule the mass market with their small, sporty, fuel-efficient cars, while German brands like Mercedes, BMW, and Audi will continue to dominate the luxury market. And then there are the wild cards: What about Tata? What about China? What about small automakers that don’t yet exist?

Neither GM nor Chrysler gave a press conference. Ford unveiled a new Mustang and an impressively practical Ford Fusion; Mazda, which is owned by Ford, revealed the new Mazda 3, one of the nicest looking small cars at the show. These are good cars that should sell, as soon as people are in the mood to buy cars again. Yet the crowd at the show seemed most excited about clean diesels from Germany (like the Volkswagen Jetta TDI, which won Green Car of the Year), and the electric cars available for test drive—the Mini E, the Mitsubishi iMiev.

This was the backdrop on the second day of the auto show’s press preview: Detroit’s Big 3 CEOs left Washington with nothing more than an order to present business plans to Congress in early December. California Rep. Henry Waxman, an ardent environmentalist from Los Angeles, replaced pro-Detroit congressman John Dingell in his post as chairman of the house energy and commerce committee, making it all the more likely that automaker will soon face much more stringent environmental and fuel-economy regulations. The Dow dropped to nearly 7,500. And by mid-afternoon most journalists had left the showroom floor, wondering what on earth the automotive industry is going to look like this time next year.

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