Mazda are set enter the competitive compact SUV market and take on the likes of the Kia Sportage, Toyota RAV4 and Nissan Juke, with their own mini SUV. The official sketches of Mazda’s Minagi concept car have been released ahead of its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March.
The Japanese manufacturer is yet to confirm but the new mini-crossover SUV is expected to be called the CX-5. The sketches have been released just over a month after a possible prototype of the Mazda CX-5 was spotted undergoing winter testing in northern Europe.
The Minagi is the second concept vehicle inspired by the brands new design language, called Kodo which is Japanese for ‘soul of motion’. Mazda have described the design as showing “pent-up energy bursting with vitality as the vehicle nimbly navigates a sprawling urban cityscape.”
The Shinari concept, designed by Mazda’s new design chief Ikuo Maeda and unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 2010, was the first car to showcase the brand’s next generation design language.
The compact SUV will fit in the Mazda line up between the Mazda CX-7 compact crossover and CX-9 crossover, and is thought to be based on a modified Mazda3 platform.
Very little details about the Minagi concept have been revealed but Mazda have said that the model will showcase the brands innovative new Skyactiv technologies. The next generation powertrains include a Skyactiv engine and transmission, along with a Skyactiv chassis and lighter body. Mazda expect the technology to improve mileage by as much as 30% and significantly reduce CO2 emissions.
The Mazda Demio, or Mazda 2, will however be the first production model to benefit from the Skyactiv engine and transmission when it is launched in Japan in the first half of 2011. Here in the UK, a Mazda dealer in Yorkshire will have to wait till 2012 to get their hands on one of Mazda’s Skyactiv models.
