Mazda’s new 5 MPV has been revealed.
The Japanese firm has gone for style as well as function, with features including sliding rear doors to boost rear passenger access and a flexible seven-seat interior. It is based on a modified Mazda 3 platform.
It is the first Mazda to use the company's 'Nagare' design language, which was first shown on a series of concepts in recent years, and which was the work of Laurens van den Acker, who has since moved to work at Renault.
The 5’s styling brings it line with the rest of Mazda’s range. It has been designed with efficiency in mind, including a low drag coefficient, with optimal lift and air-flow stability features.
Among the engine range will be a new direct-injection 2.0-litre petrol unit mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. Stop-start is also included. This new engine achieves a 15 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions compared with the model it replaces.
Hideki Matsuoka, the Mazda 5’s programme manager, said, “Our team aimed to create a new MPV that combines superb practicality with the superior environmental performance these modern times demand and a new expression in stylish design.”
The new Mazda 5 will go on sale later this year.
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Re: New Mazda 5 revealed
Well, I love the looks of it. At the end of the day, it's an MPV, right? Always complaining that the Touran and the Sharan2 and the Zafira look "too plain", and this one looks "too quirky", so what do you want? Sloping rear ends and rounded shapes don't do any favours for space efficiency, and this is also true for the C4 Grand Picasso which is almost as long as the C8 but doesn't come near in terms of available space (leave alone having some practical sliding doors).
Then again, I guess some people spend more time looking at cars in magazines and garages than actually driving them, or have unlimited space to park them...
Re: New Mazda 5 revealed
Agree, manufacturers should really learn from Peugeot's awful 'gaping mouth' styling faux pas. It just doesn't look good. The new Mazda 3 design looks like a frog and is only a little less than awful if you put it in a colour that absorbs some of the mouth and swoopy headlight lines. This Mazda 5 is even worse, and those side lines are a joke.
What a shame as they're actually pretty nice cars inside.
Re: New Mazda 5 revealed
who an earth signed off that side detailing it is truly grotesque, are Mazda entering the phase of naff styling that Peugeot are apparently emerging from, I think perhaps so.