Mazda, once again, has to rearrange the trophy cabinet with their latest haul at the Red Dot Design Award. This time, it is the Mazda CX-30 and MX-30 that bagged the Red Dot: Product Design Awards 2020.
Past Mazda winners of the Product Design award, include the new Mazda3 in 2019, preceded by the MX-5 RF in 2017, and the Mazda2, CX-3 and MX-5 soft top in 2015. The previous generation Mazda3 and Mazda6 started their design success back in 2014 and 2013, respectively. If you haven’t already noticed, the winners were shaped with the Kodo: Soul of Motion design language.
“The Japanese master craftsmen have always prized simplicity of form, of being beautifully pure,” said Jo Stenuit, Mazda’s European Design Director. “This inspired our designers to trim back elements and create something dynamic yet elegant, restrained yet vital. This is how we perceive Japanese aesthetics – a sensibility that has created emotionally moving cars.”
The CX-30 is the latest interpretation of the Kodo design, bringing a fresh, youthful and sporty look. Sticking to the “less is more” principle has resulted in the CX-30 having beautiful and clean surfaces, lending a unique dynamic aesthetic that stands-out in a sea of small SUV’s.
The MX-30 on the hand has a very unique interpretation of the Kodo design, going for a more rounded design, featuring a Freestyle door system. The two conventional doors plus two smaller rear-hinged hatches hark back to the now discontinued RX-8 coupe.
Despite sharing similar design philosophies lending to the “Mazda family” look, each SUV has a distinct characteristic that defines their unique identity. More importantly, each vehicle does not look like it had been shrink-rayed from larger models.
One of the largest design competitions in the world, Red Dot was formed in 1955 by Prof. Dr Peter Zec. Product design winners selected from 48 different categories and have become an international seal of excellence. “The winners of the Red Dot Award have proved that they have created excellent products worthy of winning an award,” says Dr Zec. “With their designs, the award winners are setting new standards in their industry.”