Mazda 3 recently won the 2020 World Car Design of the Year award, one of the special recognition categories given at the World Car Awards (WCA).
This is the second time the automotive giant has won in the same category, with the Mazda MX-5 winning the same award four years ago.
"We are truly honored to be able to receive the World Car Design of the Year award in this special year marking the 100th anniversary of Mazda’s foundation," said Akira Marumoto, Representative Director, President and CEO, Mazda Motor Corporation.
"We will continue providing our customers with unique products, designs, technologies and experiences," he added.
The World Car Design of the Year showcases new vehicles that push their boundaries in innovation and design. Vehicles were selected and voted on by an international jury panel that included 86 prominent automotive journalists from 24 countries around the world.
For this year, Mazda3, along with the Peugeot 208 and the Porsche Taycan, were the top three finalists that all the judges picked for the 2020 World Car Design of the Year award.
Mazda 3 adopts a more refined and matured version of their famous KODO: Soul of Motion design theme.
Ikuo Maeda, Executive Officer and General Manager, Design Division for Mazda explains:
“To sum up what we mean by KODO Design, it’s about creating cars that embody the dynamic beauty of life—cars that visually suggest different expressions of this energy.
"In Japan, we feel that craftsmen inject life into what they make, so objects that receive the love and caring attention of these craftsmen have a vital force; a soul. As we are a Japanese car company, we believe that a form sincerely and painstakingly made by human hands gets a soul.”
He also added that for everyone connected to Mazda, having a car is not just a way to get from A to B. It's actually a partner that you can rely on—and inspire you.
It's for this reason why they want their Mazdas to express the beauty of instantaneous motion seen in living creatures--such as the movement in animals in their natural habitat, to the energetic moment an archer releases an arrow to create the tense, muscular yet flowing lines.
"That’s what KODO Design stands for," Maeda added.
Applying this to the latest Mazda 3 has resulted to a unique design that creates subtle undulations of light and shadows gliding over the car’s smooth body, giving the powerful illusion of vitality.
And despite sharing the same model name, the hatchback and sedan models showcase distinct personalities, with the design of the hatchback more emotive, while the sedan more elegant.
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