Mazda CX-7 News

It is, in its way, the best show for ages, with a quotient of concept vehicles and exotica balanced by real world stuff you'd actually consider buying.Highlights?It's hard to walk past Audi's R8, a fully-fledged supercar likely to come in with a "bargain" tag of substantially less than $300,000. Next to it is the second generation Audi TT, mightily improved and not screamingly unaffordable from $68,500 the entry model and about $20K more for its 3.2 V6 quattro sibling. We drove both of these through the Austrian Alps in June 2006, and will hazard the guess that Audi will struggle to meet demand for this superbly executed coupe.And, just for show, is a model of the R10 – the amazing V12 diesel that took first and third at this year's Le Mans.The great thing about concept cars is that they needn't conform to such tiresome criteria as Australian Design Rules - hence the lack of an A pillar on Saab's Aero Concept X. The lack of any pillars for that matter. Slightly more tangible is the 9-5 bio ethanol-powered wagon - a car to gladden the hearts of sugar cane growers.Lotus has revived an iconic brand name with the Europa S, a car that should affirm two-seater motoring can still be an unadulterated and largely unconstrained experience. When the product of mainstream manufacturers seems to keep getting fatter, like a choc-addicted neurotic, the mere existence of Lotus serves to remind us of (hard) core driving verities.Mazda's Kabura sports compact - with its cute 3+1 seating arrangement - is a concept from which the theme and shape of Mazdas to come can be divined. Ditto Honda's Sports 4 Concept for that marque. Or so we hope. While Honda's SH-AWD system is damn clever, it'd be neat to see it attached to something a little more athletic than the globulous Legend.A few metres away from the Kabura is the CX-7 - the crossover SUV with much of the Mazda 6 MPS's drivetrain - which you'll be seeing on our streets soon. It's one of two vehicles that perfectly defines what marketing types like to call the "zeitgeist" of the Australian buyer at the moment.The other, you may or may not choose to believe, is a Volvo. The S80 all-wheel-drive V8 luxury sedan might be the Swedish marque's new hero model, but their decidedly groovy 2+2, the C30, could be the car that finally puts paid to those ancient "bloody Volvo driver" cliches.It also points firmly in the direction that Australian private buyers are going ie: those of us not enamoured of soft road SUVs are downsizing but up-speccing.And speaking of good things in small packages, those who have queued long for the Volkswagen Golf GTI will be delighted to see that not only is demand being addressed, but the new to Australia three door-model starts $1500 under the five door at $38,490. VeeWee's highly desirable Eos CC, the big drawer at last year's Frankfurt motor show, finally made its Australian debut ahead of its release early in 2007.And yes, that's a turbo diesel variant you see parked near the turbo petrol. If diesel seems anomalous in a (part-time) open top car, it works.Given the mudslide of Holden hype this year, it comes almost as relief not to see some lurid concept jobbie from them for once, although unveiling the Hummer H3 did at least provide comic relief.With the pomp and circumstance we've come to expect from Holden on the opening day of the show, the covers were hauled off to anything but the reception they've come to expect.Far from the rapturous and somewhat sycophantic applause that greeted their Torana and Efijy creations, there was … well, the sound of no hands clapping. In fact, the silence that greeted this spectacularly pointless and ugly apparition could best be described as stoney.Nissan's Foria is a concept car we’d very much like to see come into fruition. Apart form the corporate grille, this is an elegant Lancia-like coupe intended as an MX-5-like alternative. 

1. What are you doing in Australia?"This is actually my first trip to Australia. I'm here to speak to the press about the Mazda MX-Crossport which we are showing at the Melbourne Motor Show and how we have developed our recent show cars and the reasons behind them. That's the Sasso from the 2005 Frankfurt Show, the Sengku from the Tokyo Show and the Kabura from the recent Detroit Motor Show.2. How does a Scotsman end up in charge of Mazda design at Hiroshima in Japan?"I think the interesting thing is there are not a lot of car design jobs in Scotland, so you have to move away if you want that. I left quite early, moved to England, and then Europe and the 'States and Italy, and that global experience helped me to get the global job at Mazda. "And I think also think we Scots are also up for a good challenge."3. So, what's the challenge at Mazda? Personally, the first challenge was moving and living Japan. My first day at Mazda was my first day in Japan. And I have to say that it's been a pleasant challenge. Although I don't see myself in this job at Mazda for the next 10 years."I think the design challenge at Mazda is keeping the momentum going. We have good momentum and good cars at the moment, and so you have to make sure you don't let your ego or your rivals overtake you.4. You have done a lot of show cars recently. How many are real?"All show cars vary in their real-ness. The MX-Crossport is a good example of a show car done with the intent to be real and you see that now in the production CX-7."You make that decision before you do a concept, whether you will see in one year, or two year or five years. I think there are lot of intentions, but the further out you go the less and less they are real."Mazda tends to be a little more frugal with their show cars, so we have to spend out money wisely. So we do show cars for good reason. They might not be a real future vehicle but we use them to ask questions and look for trends.5. What about the MX-Crosssport?"This was really done as a test. We knew we needed to get into the crossover market."We wanted to see what we could do and what we could get into production."You can recognise the show car in about 60-70 pe rcent in the CX-7."6. Your brother Ian says he has his dream job as the head of design at Jaguar Cars. What about you?"I have a dream job, I think. I wanted to be a vet when I was a kid, actually."I think my current job is one of my dreams without a doubt, but I think maybe I have expectations of living in other places."I don't think I've stopped moving, geographically for sure, but this is a peak of my career and a dream in a way that has been fulfilled."