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- 2008 Mazda5 5MT Sport w/ Popular Package
Last time we talked to him, Derek Jenkins, head of Mazdas advance design studio in Irvine, Calif., was talking about Nagare, the companys design language based on the wave patterns of wind and water.
Now Nagare is history, and the new word is Kodo.
The companys new design language, initially signaled by the Shinari concept car shown in Milan last summer, is visible at the Javits in the Minagi concept, first seen in Geneva. The bright red vehicle is, Mr. Jenkins acknowledged, a draft of the coming CX-5 crossover.
Kodo was the creation of Ikuo Maeda, Mazdas design chief, who took over in 2009 and whose father, Matasaburo Maeda, was also a designer for Mazda.
Kodo, which means form with soul, is said to embody the qualities of speed, tension and allure. Mazda literature describes Kodo in more florid terms, saying it embodies the moment when the cheetah seizes its prey, or the sword strikes its target.
Yes, the terms used to describe Japanese design languages often suggest screenplays of lost Kurosawa films.
More specifically, Mr. Jenkins explained, Kodo means headlights higher than the grille and an aggressive angularity to the grille and other forms. We needed a stronger front identity, he said in an interview on Wednesday. Kodo gives us a more assertive and provocative presence.
He described the newly facelifted Mazda 3, also at the show, as half Kodo. The watermelon-slice smile of the last generation of the car has been altered a bit; the Kodo face now scowls more than it smiles.
Mr. Jenkins laid out three priorities that are guiding design at Mazda. First is proportion and stance. We want the car to be light and agile on its feet, he said. Then is the graphic, the way the vehicle looks from a distance. Third is surface treatment. Each element reinforces the other.
[New York Times Wheels]
