MAZDA NAGARE - CONCEPT OF A CONCEPT

Von Holzhausen describes Mazda Nagare as "a concept of a concept." It's intentionally a celebration of proportions and surface language that will evolve in subsequent designs planned for presentation at future auto shows this season. In other words, design first, engineering later at this point in the process, in contrast to the classic 'form-follows-function' approach."

Adds van den Acker, "It's important to start with the vision first: Nagare is sculpture on wheels, our vision of what Mazda automobiles could look like in 2020. The concept we'll present in Detroit is practical enough to produce in the next decade, while the model under development for Geneva will embody design ideas we expect to implement in the very near future."


MAZDA NAGARE - PACKAGE

Like all Mazda products, Mazda Nagare has the soul of a sports car. Its shape is sleek and aerodynamically efficient, as you'd expect of an urban cruiser for the future. Wheels are positioned at the far corners of the envelope for quick steering response and agile manoeuvrability. There isn't an ounce of overhang wasted. Access to the four-place interior is provided by two double-length doors that hinge forward and up like the wings of a butterfly. The driver is centrally located, like a single-seat sports racer, for optimum control and visibility. Since the driver is positioned under the highest portion of the roof, there's ample headroom with a comfortably reclined backrest. Innovative seating arrangements are a Mazda specialty, as witnessed by the successful RX-8 four-passenger sports car and the clever packaging in the upcoming CX-9 three-row, seven-passenger crossover sport-utility vehicle.

Mazda Nagare's rear compartment is a wrap-around lounge offering relaxed accommodations for three passengers. The central front seat and expansive door opening facilitate easy entry to the surprisingly roomy interior.

Recognizing that an advanced design concept needs an advanced powertrain, Mazda Nagare could conceivably be powered by a hydrogen-fuelled rotary engine. Mazda's work on this advanced powertrain technology is among the most advanced in the world, with hydrogen/gasoline-fuelled rotaries powering RX-8s currently in service in Japan.


MAZDA NAGARE - SURFACE TEXTURE REGISTERING FLOW MOTION

Mazda Nagare's side surfaces provide a means of visualizing the air flowing along and over the car as it speeds through the atmosphere. Light and shadow combine to convey this feeling of motion even when the car is standing still. Similar hints of fluid flow are evident in the hood, wheel arches, LED head- and tail-lamp treatments. The same surface language plays throughout Nagare's interior; the instrument panel, centre console, and door panels all appear to be influenced by flow.

"Beauty is not a clean sheet of paper," said von Holzhausen of the vehicle. "Nagare's motion-influenced surface texture compliments its dynamic attributes. Because of Mazda's sporty essence, we never wrap our customers in boxes.

"Our new surface language is car-centric. After studying the architectural approach, which tends to be strictly rigid, and the organic approach, which is highly fluid, we created Nagare to straddle those two disciplines. It is fluid, graceful, and dynamic. But the message it registers on the beholder is flow-motion."


GLOBAL DESIGN EFFORT

To give Mazda products sold in different global markets a common design theme, the three global design studios - located in Irvine, California, Frankfurt, Germany and Yokohama, Japan - are inspired, guided and encouraged by Laurens van den Acker, the firm's global design director who is located at the company's headquarters in Hiroshima, Japan. Future concepts embracing the Nagare flow design discipline will evolve under van den Acker's oversight as this year's show season unfolds.

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