Nagare no more

[Laconian]

Now, when will Honda get the memo?


http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/253504/nagare_no_longer_goes_with_the_flow.html

Nagare is no more. Speaking to Mazda Europe?s British design boss Peter Birtwhistle, he confirmed that the flowing design language that has dictated the Mazda look in recent years is set to be replaced.

?Nagare is done. After the 5, it?s highly unlikely that there will be another nagare car. Mazda has moved on.?

Laurens van den Acker, who has since left the company for Renault, created the look which has only bee applied in full to one production car, the Mazda5 due to go on sale in the UK in November.

But top brass in Japan aren?t convinced by the flowing look, which Birtwhistle confirms was ?particularly difficult to apply to a boxy people carrier shape.?

As for what?s next, that?s up to Mazda?s new design chief, Ikuo Maeda. Birtwhistle confirmed that Mazda is aiming to become ?more like a Japanese Alfa Romeo, producing cars which are great to drive, but crucially that also have the right premium feel, particularly inside.?

A number of concepts are being designed under the working title of ?thrusting motion?. Maeda will select a winner at an internal Mazda event due to be held in Milan in September. The winning car will debut at the Paris Motor Show, where the name for Mazda?s new design philosophy - which Birtwhistle assures us will be much more appropriate for a UK audience ? will also be announced.

The show is also the venue where former boss van den Acker will show off his vision for new employer Renault.



Read more: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/253504/nagare_no_longer_goes_with_the_flow.html#ixzz0rima4ASN

[Payman]

Very promising, this.

[SVT666]

Finally they got some sense.

[2o6]

Nagare was hot in concept form. In execution, not so much. The worst offender is the new Mazda 5.

[MX793]

Does this mean they'll be ditching the ginormous smiley grille?  That design trait can't be removed fast enough.

[Payman]

Nagare was hot in concept form. In execution, not so much. The worst offender is the new Mazda 5.

Yup.

[Payman]

However, an new RX-7 influenced by this



had the potential to be epic.

[sportyaccordy]

I don't like all those gills man. Car looks amphibian

Here's to hoping Mazda giving up the quest for volume and really catering to the niche of everyday enthusiasts. The 1st gen Mazda 6 was criminally underrated and had its thunder stolen by the brawnier but much more poorly executed '02 Altima. I hope the next 6 will raise the bar of dynamics and shake the game up again, because midsize offerings now are not too exciting.

[MX793]

I'm still waiting for a production version of the Kabura...

[r0tor]

Maeda penned the first gen rx8  and his father penned the first gen rx7 so this may be a very good thing....

Nagare was so hot as a concept, but pretty much was always so far out there that it would never work in mass production.

[Laconian]

Nagare was hot in concept form. In execution, not so much. The worst offender is the new Mazda 5.

That's kind of cool, if you look at it as a static piece of sculpture. The flow lines make it look like it's swimming through the sea. The smile displays its joy at the feast of krill lying front of it.

[omicron]

Thrusting motion? I quiver with tumescent anticipation!