Mazda unmasks its new face

In a massive overturn for the company, it will shrug off its wide smile and replace it with a hard-edged trapzoidal mouth.

In the Shinari concept, shown for the first time this week in Milan, the shape - called Kodo - is distinctly creased and shows sharp edges as new design chief Ikuo Maeda abandons the pronounced rounded fenders penned by his predecessor.

The Shinari face will be rolled out in new Mazda vehicles from 2012, starting - in Australia - with the Mazda6. Other models will follow in quick succession, Mr Maeda says. The new look will combine with the complete range of new engines - Sky-G (petrol) and Sky-D (diesel) - and six-speed manual and lock-up auto transmissions.

Australia will first see some of the new technology in next year’s updated Mazda3, which won’t get the new look but will have the 2-litre Sky-G engine.

Shinari is intended to be merely a concept car but it is powered by a 2-litre Sky-G engine driving the front wheels.

Mazda says the drivetrain is academic. The carbon-fibre bonnet features a U-shaped indent reminiscent of the RX-8 and the imposing centre tunnel in the cabin and four-seat design clearly shows it will accommodate a rear-drive layout, indicating it may have a future as a rotary-powered sports car.

Inside, the glass-roofed cockpit surrounds the driver and side panels - sharp-edged and with deep recesses - form zones for the sat-nav, radio, switchgear and even the tiny button that controls the gearbox. Instead of a conventional gearshift lever, the concept has steering wheel paddles.

"It’s our basic design philosophy," says Maeda of the Shinari. "It’s absolutely critical that this design for Mazda stands out. We also have to create an emotional link between the car and the owner."

But though some elements of the shape will carry on through Mazda’s passenger car range from 2012, Maeda and interior designer Julien Montousse admit some features will be lost in translation.

"The dashboard can be difficult to reproduce in production cars," Montousse says, "and it can be expensive. What you will see (in production) are elements of this design. So there will be, in all models, a binnacle that creates a cockpit for the driver and the horizontal line across the cabin to give space."

Maeda says: "We have studied how this theme fits smaller cars and SUVs and we have a pretty good idea about how it will work."

Challenges for Mazda in applying the Shinari concept include trying to make thin A-pillars, which support the windscreen.

"Our desire is to have frameless doors and to have thin A pillars," Maeda says. "But the A pillars are a problem. We will have to find new materials to make the pillars strong and also to accommodate the airbags. We are trying different steel sections and high-tensile steel. Carbon fibre is ideal but is not affordable for a passenger car."

Mazda will show the Shinari concept at a motor show early in 2011. It chose not to show it at the Paris motor show later this month, preferring instead to display production cars including the face-lifted Mazda2.