MINAGI (2011)

The Mazda MINAGI concept car embodies Mazda’s new SKYACTIV technologies and new KODO design language, signaling the way for the next generation of Mazda cars to come.

The MINAGI concept made its world premiere at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show as the expression of Mazda’s new SKYACTIV technologies and new KODO design language. It is the first model which showcases characteristics likely to be seen in the next generation of Mazda cars. For this reason, Mazda has fully incorporated its SKYACTIV technologies into every aspect of driving performance, including the powertrain, chassis, and even body design. As the second concept vehicle to incorporate Mazda’s new ‘KODO – Soul of Motion’ design language, MINAGI challenges conventions with emotional design and exhilarating performance.

While SHINARI was a pure design concept to express the full potential of KODO design, MINAGI gives a glimpse of the next generation of products to come. As the second concept car to adopt Mazda’s KODO design theme, MINAGI’s design elements combine the expression of energy pulsing throughout the vehicle with the keen agility to move about freely and nimbly. With its upright, compact packaging, MINAGI offers a vision of KODO design that is different to SHINARI, yet it shares the same sinuous, powerful stance.

“I wanted to convey something different from the Mazda SHINARI. I felt a compact crossover SUV was the perfect vehicle to express agility and focused movement; the flexibility of four limbs moving in unison, and an upright posture.”

– Masashi Nakayama, Chief Designer, MINAGI Concept

The Mazda MINAGI is a stylish expression of pent-up energy. In Japanese, its name conjures up the image of an object pulsating with energy and perfectly reflects the vehicle’s speed, agility and spirited character. For MINAGI, Mazda designers looked at different aspects of cheetahs as they hunt. A cheetah’s head is positioned high, while long, powerful and supple limbs hold its lean torso upright to enable it to change direction quickly at high speed. Mazda’s designers set out to evoke the moment when an animal contracts its muscles, ready to sprint and lunge at its prey. Furthermore, such a lunge can be in any direction; an idea which fits with the function of an agile crossover SUV as it nimbly darts through a sprawling cityscape.

Major features of the Mazda MINAGI Concept

An urban-friendly compact crossover SUV which combines emotional design with exhilarating performance

• Mazda MINAGI is the first concept car to fully adopt Mazda’s SKYACTIV technologies and new ‘KODO - Soul of Motion’ design and it represents Mazda’s next generation of products.
• Mazda’s unique compact crossover SUV for urban explorers fuses emotional design - which conveys a lively ability to quickly leap into action and head in any direction - with the driving pleasure and outstanding environmental and safety performance of SKYACTIV technologies.
• KODO design elements adopted by this compact crossover SUV express pulsating energy and a nimble ability to move about freely.

Exterior design

KODO design embodied in the form of a compact crossover SUV Proportions

• The vehicle’s crouched stance expresses the image of a cheetah as it stands with its weight poised on its hind legs, ready to lunge at its prey.
• The cargo bay of conventional SUVs often resembles a vehicle wearing a backpack, whereas MINAGI presents an image of a muscular entity that cleanly incorporates spaciousness within well-toned lines.
• Placing the A-pillar rearward emphasizes the rearward orientation of the cabin. This stands in sharp contrast to the single-arc silhouette of frontward A-pillar placement on minivans, and emphasizes the driving position - a priority for the design of the MINAGI concept.
• The cabin’s position relative to the lower body is further back than on conventional SUVs. This emphasizes the motion expressed in MINAGI’s form.

Front view

• The chromed ‘signature wing’ on the front fascia, shared with SHINARI, makes MINAGI immediately recognizable as a Mazda and creates a strong impression
• Angling the front grille slightly downwards, while juxtaposing the headlamp housings design to slant upward, creates intensity
• Adding more dynamic contours to the prominent front fenders – highly characteristic of Mazda cars - expresses KODO design language’s forceful sense of accumulating, then instantly releasing pent-up energy. These elements combine with the dynamic form of the rear fenders further emphasizing the wheels, which form the legs of this predator.

Side view

• Sculpted lines along the sides of MINAGI's body accentuate a sense of power which suggest the supple strength of a cheetah. These contours extend and connect with the rear fender in an expression which suggests the powerful musculature that joins the cheetah’s shoulders and hips to its legs
• The overall effect is a graceful and beautiful form which directs the eye from front-to-rear
• The character line that flows along the lower part of MINAGI's side panels symbolizes KODO's sense of power being accumulated, then quickly released

Rear view

• The rear fenders project boldly outward to create a wide, stable stance befitting an SUV
• The contrast between the rear fenders and the taut lines of the car’s rear end mimics the strong and seductive hip line of a toned athlete

Headlamp design

• As with SHINARI, the chromed 'signature wing' that sweeps up from the bottom of the front grille disappears into the center of the headlamp housings dramatically
• The design of the three-dimensional headlamp and rear combination lamps add a heightened sense of depth
• The line of the 'signature wing' element and the headlamp design combine to express the intense look of a wild animal's gaze