Mazda R&D

Synopsis

Automotive marketers many times measure success in two, three or four word taglines. Just consider the last thirty years. "Like a Rock" and "Quality is Job 1" come to mind immediately, but few afterwards. That is until Mazda gave us Zoom-Zoom.

It’s rare that a company hits the bullseye like this…small automaker with a performance heritage using a short repetitive phrase to capture the essence of its brand. It’s so successful that the Zoom-Zoom ethos now drives the philosophy for much of what comes out of Mazda. Nowhere is that more evident than in the series of Concept Vehicles that the company unveiled the last few years. Starting in 2006 with the Nagare (Japanese for flow) to last year's Ryuga (gracious flow) to this year's Furai (the sound of wind), these vehicles have set the bar high as Mazda’s top designers look to incorporate Zoom-Zoom into today's vehicles and beyond.

And one spot where you can see these elements come to life is at Mazda's North American Design Studio in Irvine, California, the site of this week's episode of “Autoline in LA.” That's where John McElroy receives a tour of this secure facility from Franz von Holzhausen, its North American Director of Design. Franz takes John behind-the-scenes of Mazda's secret studio to show him where they design, fabricate and create concept cars like the Furai and future production vehicles as well. In addition to design, we'll also get a taste of Mazda R & D when John talks to its director, Kelvin Hiraishi about how his team works with design to develop Mazda's next generation.

And don't forget to check out this week's Autoline EXTRA when Kelvin takes John and our cameras into the Mazda Performance Garage to see some of the great championship vehicles from Mazda racing history.

So don't let this deep dive on Mazda Design Zoom-Zoom right past you.

For more from our LA series visit www.autolinedetroit.tv/LA