MAZDA HAKAZE CONCEPT MAKES NORTH AMERICAN DEBUT

MAZDA HAKAZE CONCEPT MAKES NORTH AMERICAN DEBUT

Natural flow lines are all around us – wind blowing shapes in sand, wave forms seen from above – and are literally symbolic of movement itself. Mazda’s design and surface language for future Zoom-Zoom vehicles embraces this concept of natural flow, a new design language called Nagare (pronounced na-ga-reh). Developed by Mazda ’ s global design director, Laurens van den Acker, the word Nagare means “ flow ” and “ the embodiment of movement ” in Japanese. To apply this idea to car design, van den Acker and his team analyzed motion itself and how forces like wind and water move in nature.

The 2007 auto show season features four concepts from Mazda that express this new Nagare design concept. The first concept vehicle, also named Nagare, was shown at the Los Angeles International Auto Show, followed by the Ryuga (pronounced ree-yoo-ga), which debuted at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Now Mazda brings its Nagare “flow” concept to New York as its third all-new concept in the series, Hakaze (pronounced hah-kah-zay), makes its North American debut. Hakaze, which was designed at Mazda ’ s European Design Center near Frankfurt, Germany and recently made its world debut at the Geneva International Motor Show, is a compact crossover coupe with a roadster feel. It combines the best attributes of three traditional types of cars. Part of its roof is removable, which gives a feel similar to a roadster; it is agile and fun to drive like a compact hatchback, and it has a high hip point and interior functionality like a compact SUV. It expresses Nagare “ flow ” on the outside with sand-dune like surface iteration and combines these with shapes from machines that move through water or air. On the inside, it boasts “ flowing ” Nagare forms, natural surfaces and insightful functionality to meet the demands of adventurous lifestyles like kite-surfing.

” Nagare is expressed in the Mazda Hakaze, not only in the iteration on the side of the car, but also in a lot of the details, ” says Peter Birtwhistle, Chief Designer, Mazda Motor Europe. “ If you look at details like the execution of the wheel design, the spokes have a nice flow in terms of the way they move and the way they integrate into the tire design. The flow concept continues into the interior too, which is reminiscent of sand dunes. It has incredible movement, very much like blowing winds.”

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