Mazda aims to hold its lock on the microvan market with next year's launch of the new 2012 Mazda5.
L.A. Auto Show-goers are getting a first look at Mazda’s next-generation people-move, which is sharing the stage with the Japanese maker’s future Shinari concept vehicle.
With the Shinari providing a longer look at Mazda’s design direction, the Mazda5 gives a more immediate sense of where the maker believes the market is going – and how it plans to keep building on its momentum. So far this year, noted Jim O’Sullivan, the maker’s senior American executive, Mazda sales have risen 10%, while residual values have also been rising rapidly.
In approaching the development of the all-new 2012 Mazda5, program manager Hideki Matsuoka said he combined the best features from the current model and set out to further evolve it. The goal was to create a new multi-activity vehicle combining superior environmental performance with a new expression of stylish design.
“This expresses our goal to build a new family mover for the global market that offers a smart solution to the user’s every need by establishing a balance between diverse functionality and outstanding performance,” said Matsuoka.
Five key values drove the development of the 2012, which is due in showrooms during the first half of next year, including smart and emotional design, easy to use functionality — particularly in the interior — great quality and a refined, dynamic driving performance coupled with excellent fuel economy.
Mazda fans have learned to keep a close eye on the design studies that the maker regularly debuts at events like this year’s L.A. Auto Show. The 2012 Mazda 5 incorporates motifs from the earlier Nagare concept, which introduced Mazda’s “flow” design language. It’s an appealing look that captures the eye upon first glance.
The new version of the Mazda 5 is powered by a 2.5-liter MZR I4 engine, which also sees use in the Mazda3 and Mazda6, and can be paired with either a manual or automatic transmission.
With an overall length of 180.5 inches, width of 68.9 inches, height of 63.6 inches, and sitting on a 108.3-inch wheelbase, the Mazda5, is roomy while being surprisingly compact. And the short front and rear overhangs enable better handling and parking ease, Mazda officials said. Despite the long wheelbase, Mazda 5 features a tight turning circle of 36.7 feet.
The third-row seats are split 50/50. They can be tipped forward individually and folded away to create a flat load area, ideal for carrying mountain bikes or bulky sports equipment.
Since its launch, Mazda has had the microvan segment entirely to itself, but long-time ally Ford hopes to make a play of its own for potential buyers with the soon-to-debut C-Max people-mover. Both stem from a joint development program, though the final products were developed largely on their own.
Could the Shinari concept provide a hint of what’s to come with the next Mazda5?
“The challenge for us was to create an innovative new expression for energetic and powerful movement; something that we had never attempted before. We began by developing the design around the image of a predator, as it strikes at its prey, or the stabbing movement in kendo, Japanese fencing, to express the instant where accumulated force is released,” Yasushi Nakamuta, who led the design both the Shinari and the third generation Mazda Miata MX-5.
(Click Here for more on the Mazda Shinari Concept.)