Design - Improved Quality Feel
- Discreet updates for even more emotional appeal
- Hatchback and sedan more individualistic than before
- New interior colours and fabrics and enhanced craftsmanship for improved quality feel
The key to Mazda3's successful run up the compact segment sales charts in Europe has been its emotional appeal. In fact, exterior design is most frequently mentioned as an important reason for purchase. There are two highly distinctive body styles to choose from - an elegant and athletic sedan and a youthful and aggressively designed five-door hatchback.
For the upgraded version, designers made discreet changes to enhance the emotional appeal that Mazda3 has always possessed. The front and rear bumpers get press line adjust- ments. At the front, for example, the press line on the inside of the headlamps no longer extends down into the upper bumper sections as before, but now ends at the top of the bumper line (running from fender to fender). This results in a clearer separation of bonnet and bumper and gives the Mazda3 facelift - both sedan and hatchback - a slightly more powerful frontal stance. At the back, the bumper reflectors are now placed a bit closer to the license plate holder and new black lamp bezels are introduced. Added to this are new alloy wheel designs for all wheel sizes and seven new body colours, bringing the total to 12. To enhance the distinct look of both body styles even further, the sedan now has a chrome moulding at the top edge of the five-point grille to support its elegant image, while the hatchback's upper grille section is body coloured to support its sportier appeal.
Updated Sports Appearance Package (SAP)
As with the outgoing model, an SAP package is available for both the sedan and hatchback versions of the Mazda3 facelift. It too has design updates that include new 17-inch wheels, a new angular fog lamp design very similar to the sportier MPS model, side skirts and a rear spoiler. For the sedan with and without SAP, LED rear lamps are also introduced for an even higher quality look.
Mazda3 Facelift Interior Design - an even nicer place to be
The inside of original Mazda3 repeated the emotional appeal of the exterior by delivering functional elegance with aesthetic design, high craftsmanship and an attention to ergonomics that customers appreciate on a daily basis. For Mazda3 facelift new interior colours, new materials and aluminium accents, all executed with even better craftsmanship, are introduced for a higher quality feel to make the car even more aesthetically appealing and an even nicer place to be.
Kansei Engineering - engineering emotion into the Mazda3
To help deliver appealing exterior and interior designs for the Mazda3, Kansei Engineering was employed. Invented in the 1970s by Professor Mitsuo Nagamachi (Dean of Hiroshima International University) it measures feelings of consumers and shows the relationship of these emotions to certain product properties. Mazda was one of the first to employ this system in designing the Mazda MX-5, which has since become the best-selling roadster of all time.
Two new interior colour schemes (depending on grade and market) enhance the model: a grey interior colour for a feeling of high-class sporty refinement, and a sports-oriented black interior. New seat fabrics are also introduced that are unique to each grade, with a more pleasing texture and chosen for their higher quality feel. Both interior colour packages now have a stylish piano black decoration finish on the dashboard (depending on grade), while the dials now have a bright silver look for a touch of elegance. The power window bezels, steering wheel switch bezels and the centre panel have a new dark silver trim as well. The Sports Grade (depending on market) with black interior and blackout type meters includes a decorative insert finished with a hairline treatment in the instrument panel to communicate even more high quality and sportiness.
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