BANGKOK, Nov 18 — The next generation of Mazda car designs may include some rear-wheel drive models, if what we have seen and heard (source unconfirmed) come true. We do know however, that the design and engineering teams at Mazda headquarters in Japan are a real enthusiastic lot of car lovers who are very passionate about driving, as explained in the Mazda Zoom-Zoom philosophy, wherein Mazda says that the fun of driving must always be maintained. I know how they feel about cars, and I have always been a fan of rear-wheel drive cars, the Miata included, of course.

From what I hear, not all the cars in Mazda will be converted to rear-wheel drive — there will always be the SUV’s which will remain as Front-Wheel Drive (FWD) or All-Wheel Drive (AWD). The smaller range cars like the Mazda 2 would also remain as FWD, as the buyers in this category are more budget-conscious. For the Mazda 3, which is starting to ‘grow’, we may see a mixture of FWD and AWD, depending on the engine power. The main thrust of the switch however, is expected to be focused on the new Mazda 6 which we expect to see in 2020.

At the Mazda Design Forum 2018 held in Bangkok last week, Mazda presented two cars, the Mazda RX Vision, and the Mazda Vision Coupe. These two cars represent what the future of Mazda car design is all about.  The new Mazda design philosophy is enshrined in its KODO Soul of Motion philosophy which was started in 2010. To Mazda, a car is more than just a mean of transport or a mass of metal. It should be a vital presence in people’s lives, like a friend or family member. That’s why the KODO design philosophy is all about breathing life into the very form of Mazda cars.

A long nose and bonnet section hint at a RWD powertrain. — Picture by YS Khong

Mazda design attempts to capture the energy found in the frame-by-frame dynamism of living creatures as they move, and infuse this energy and rhythm into the form of Mazda vehicles, creating cars with a vitality that makes them truly alive.

The RX Vision was showcased as a concept car in 2016, and it won the ‘Most Beautiful Car of the Year’ Award. The talk in town is that the RX Vision will form the base of the RX8 replacement coupe, and we would get to see the rotary engine back in action again, although it will only play the role of a range-extender for either a fully electric or plug-in hybrid.

Mazda RX Vision will be either PHEV or EV with a rotary engine range extender. — Picture by YS Khong

The MAZDA VISION COUPE is a next-generation design vision model which showcases the "new elegance” that Mazda has developed, drawing upon Mazda’s long history of design. The name of the car "COUPE” gives a hint of where this special "Mazda elegance” originally came from. The Vision Coupe won the 2018 ‘Most Beautiful Car of the Year’ award too.

In creating the form of the body, the focus has been on stripping away everything that is unnecessary. The sense of rhythm and movement displayed by Mazda cars in recent years has been transformed into a simple three-dimensional shape that aims to embody a "less is more” aesthetic.

From the Mazda badge on the front to the badge on the back, a single powerful axis runs right through the car, evoking the look and feel of supple steel, with all the car’s movements centring on this central vector. The result is a form that is extraordinarily simple yet full of a sense of latent speed: the "one motion form” that is the outstanding feature of this model. Having created a four-door coupe as the basic framework, Mazda has invested tremendous time and care on the bodywork, especially the play of light across its surface.

Mazda RX Vision, rear view. — Picture by YS Khong

In the Mazda VISION COUPE, the cockpit layout is symmetrical, with the steering centre in the middle and everything else to the left and right, meaning that the driver can sense the central axis of the car at all times. The Jinba-ittai ideal of intuitive operation has also been brought into the controls. Drivers can bring up information with a quick touch of the centre console, like a jockey stroking the neck of his or her horse. This and other controls seek to create a unique human-machine interface that intuitively connects car and driver.

The word in town is also that the next generation of Mazda cars would be ‘somewhere in between’ these two models. Of course, to be totally honest, the final design would be a little different from the concept model, but the basic lines and philosophy remain.

The new Mazda 3 will be premiered in the Los Angeles Motor Show to be held at the end of this month, and we look forward to it eagerly. As for the rear-wheel drive theory for the Mazda 6 — if the Vision Coupe’s long bonnet should be a good enough hint — it is probably like that in preparation for a longitudinally-mounted engine to drive the rear wheels.