Mazda Minagi Concept at Geneva Motor Show
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Mazda
1st March, 2011
The Minagi concept, being displayed at the Geneva Motor
Show (3rd-13th March 2011) showcases characteristics likely to be seen in the next generation of Mazda
cars. For this reason, Mazda has fully incorporated its SKYACTIV technologies into every aspect of
driving performance, including the powertrain, chassis, and even body design. Minagi challenges
conventions with design and performance.
Minagi’s design elements combine the expression of energy pulsing throughout the vehicle with the
keen agility to move about freely and nimbly. With its upright, compact packaging, Minagi offers a
vision of KODO design that is different to
Shinari,
yet it shares the same sinuous, powerful stance.
“I wanted to convey something different from the Mazda Shinari. I felt a compact cross-over SUV
was the perfect vehicle to express agility and focused movement; the flexibility of four limbs moving
in unison, and an upright posture.” said Masashi Nakayama, Chief Designer, Minagi Concept.
Mazda Minagi Concept is a stylish expression of pent-up energy. In Japanese, its name conjures up
the image of an object pulsating with energy and perfectly reflects the vehicle’s speed, agility and
spirited 'character'. For Minagi, Mazda designers looked at different aspects of cheetahs as they
hunt. A cheetah’s head is positioned high, while long, powerful and supple limbs hold its lean torso
upright to enable it to change direction quickly at high speed. Mazda’s designers set out to evoke
the moment when an animal contracts its muscles, ready to lunge at its prey. Such a lunge can be in
any direction; an idea which fits with the function of an agile cross-over SUV as it darts through a
sprawling cityscape.
Exterior Proportions
- The cabin’s position relative to the lower body is further back than on conventional SUVs. This
emphasises the motion expressed in Minagi’s form.
Front view
- The chromed ‘signature wing’ on the front fascia, shared with Shinari, makes Minagi immediately
recognisable as a Mazda
- Angling the front grille slightly downwards, while juxtaposing the headlamp housings design to
slant upward, portrays intensity
- Adding more dynamic contours to the prominent front guards – highly characteristic of current
Mazda cars – expresses KODO design language’s forceful sense of accumulating, then instantly
releasing, pent-up energy. These elements combine with the dynamic form of the rear guards further
emphasising the wheels
Side view
- Sculpted lines along the sides of Minagi’s body accentuate a sense of power
- The 'character' line that flows along the lower part of Minagi’s side panels symbolises KODO’s
sense of power being accumulated then quickly released
Rear view
- The rear guards project boldly outward to provide a wide, stable stance befitting an SUV
Headlamp design
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- As with Shinari, the chromed ‘signature wing’ that sweeps up from the bottom of the front grille
disappears dramatically into the centre of the headlamp housings
- The designs of the three-dimensional headlamp and rear combination lamps add a heightened sense
of depth
- The line of the ‘signature wing’ element and the headlamp design combine to express the intense
look of a wild animal’s gaze
Interior design
- Mazda’s designers set out to realise a driver-focused cockpit and a cabin environment that
expresses a reassuringly high level of strength and solidity.
- The main black interior colour is contrasted by the colour red in the rear seatbacks and at the
bottom of the door armrests
Characteristics unique to a compact cross-over SUV
- Four upright satin chrome struts appear to support the instrument panel, each rising upward in an
image of vertical strength which appears to defy gravity, underscoring the impression that Minagi’s
occupants are securely protected
- The design of the instrument cluster and surrounding switches emphasises the snug, sporty nature
of the driver-focused cabin, while expressing Mazda’s sporty ambitions
Craftsmanship
- Leather seats and door trim have been fashioned using the finest leather available
- Carefully sewn raised pleats express the interior’s level of quality
- The ‘black smoked’ coating on the dark tinted horizontal metal panel – positioned along the centre
of the instrument panel – shows the high quality of the interior components
- Solid metal components, including the door handles, are milled from aluminium and carefully
polished to provide a smooth, quality-enhancing surface.
- The door handles are designed to resemble the beauty and functionality of high-end racing bicycle
components
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