Motoring

Mazda redefines brand with new Kai Concept styling

Continued from last Monday

Maeda says that the future of Mazda design can be seen in the Kai concept.
Mazda’s head of design, Ikuo Maeda says, “We decided not to get on the mobility bandwagon that’s pushing electrification like everyone else, but rather nurture our unique brand identity, and make beautiful cars with signature Skyactiv technologies.” Skyactiv refers to a development process that employs reinforced lightweight engines, transmissions, chassis and suspension systems that promote better fuel economy and cleaner emissions while offering improved performance at the same time.
Now, Mazda is preparing to redefine the brand yet again. Unveiled at last October’s Tokyo Motor Show, and exposed to the American public for the first time at March’s New York Auto Show, the Kai Concept points Mazda’s design in a whole new direction called Single Motion.
The award-winning Vision Coupe was revealed at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show.
When Maeda became design director in 2009, he introduced the company’s new Kodo design language and in so doing, created one of the strongest brand identities in Japan. He and his team are now going to take things to the next level. As Maeda explains, the current companywide Double Motion styling seen on every model from the MX-5 to the Mazda6 to the CX-5, uses a free-flowing form with strong, accented edges. Within the next few years, this design language will be remolded from Double Motion into a Single Motion theme that does away with edges and instead focuses on a new treatment of light and shadows, a process that generates ever-changing reflections on smooth surfaces. “This is Mazda’s future design language,” he says.
To be honest, Mazda’s existing brand-wide design language, in which every model employed similar grille and headlight designs and side profiles that almost looked swappable between models, was starting to look a little tired and old.
This striking Kai Concept hints at what the next generation Mazda 3 will look like, and this futuristic fresh look is just what Mazda needs to strengthen its unique brand image and keep the industry focused on its stubborn ways of not following the leader into the electrification maze.

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