Mazda has unveiled the new BT-50 pick-up at the Australian International Auto Show in Sydney. The new pick-up gets refined and expressive styling; a comfortable, high quality interior; a smooth ride with the feel of a passenger car; sporty and responsive driving dynamics that reflect Mazda’s DNA; and outstanding environmental and safety performance.
The BT-50 is characterized by Mazda’s family face with the five-point grille, headlights with bold boomerang shape, stretched taillights. The interior features a dashboard with an asymmetric design, four bold metallic panel strips, and a metallic outline that highlights the two cylindrical meters and connects them via a center strip.
"With the All-New BT-50, we aimed to express this emotion through the design, and we drew a lot of inspiration from various “movements” in the world around us. For example, we had a photograph of a lion. He looked like a magnificent predator with his muscles all bunching up as though he was about to pounce on his prey. His sinews were stretched taut ready to strike, and his mane framed a sharp, masculine countenance that seemed to say, ‘I am the proud king of the beasts!’ In profile, that lion appeared to be both intelligent and powerful."
Press release after the jump.
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With the current generation Mazda RX-8 going out of production in 2011, the company has already started the work on the new generation sports car. And according to the Japanese magazine Best Car, the new generation RX-8 will take its inspiration from the recently unveiled Shinari Concept.
As previously reported, the next generation RX-8 will feature a new rotary engine that can run on petrol or diesel. It is a two-stroke 16X engine that in its current state develops a total of 300bhp and sprints the car from 0 to 60mph in under five seconds. That is a significant improvement over the current 231 HP and 6.4 seconds time sprint.
Like all the future models in Mazda’s line-up, the RX-8’s design language will be described by the word Kodo, which is Japanese for soul of motion. Talking about the new design language, Ikuo Maeda, general manager of Mazda Motor Corp.’s design division said: "this design will lead to the next generation of Mazda design and will lead to other elements."
There’s no denying the popularity of the Mazda MX-5 Miata. It’s so popular that a meeting of 459 Miata owners from all corners of the world at a meet in Essen, Germany doesn’t look impressive enough. Except that it is; impressive enough that it landed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest MX-5 meet in, like, ever.
Owners from 16 countries participated in the record-breaking meet, which was held at UNESCO’s Zollverein World Heritage site. What’s even more impressive is that the number of Miatas could have easily been more than 459 had the event organizers not turned down some of the applicants from participating.
All in all, the 459 Miatas eclipsed the previous record of 249 models that was previously set in New Zealand. Like we said, 459 isn’t that big a number considering the number of MX-5’s loitering around the streets of the world, but hey, a record’s a record, right?
That, in itself, is something all those attending owners should be very proud of.
On October 15th, Mazda will be trooping down to the Land Down Under for the Australian International Motor Show, and they’re bringing with them a new pick-up truck concept: the BT-50 pick-up.
Described as an “active lifestyle vehicle”, the BT-50 is being pegged as a new kind of pick-up truck that, according to Mazda, will redefine the way people look at pick-up trucks of today.
We’re not quite sure what Mazda means by redefining an entire market segment of vehicles, but we’ll take their words are worth for what they’re worth. After all, judging from the teaser sketch they released of the pick-up concept, it looks to be right in line with the new styling direction – the Kodo Soul of Motion – the company is taking with their future vehicles. One thing we do know is that if this BT-50 concept is anything like the other Kodo-inspired concepts we’ve seen, then we’re more than curious to see how this pick-up turns out to be up close and personal.
Press Release after the jump.
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We all know that Mazda’s meal ticket in the auto industry is the new MX-5 Roadster, but what a lot of people don’t know is that the Mazda3, not the MX-5, is the brand’s fastest-selling vehicle of all time.
Coming in second is the Mazda6, which is quite a seller itself. Maybe not to the level of the Mazda3, but in-demand enough that the brand recently celebrated the 2 millionth Mazda6 ever built by the company. What’s more impressive? The company took only eight-and-something years to achieve the milestone number.
The car was launched back in 2002 at the company’s Hofu Plant No. 2 in Japan, and after a little under nine years, car number 2 million left the production block late last month.
Accoding to Seita Kanai, the company’s senior managing executive officer and head of R&D and Program Management, the Mazda6 was instrumental in bringing global recognition to a Japanese brand that, for the longest time, found it difficult to move out of the shadow cast by its more prominent Japanese peers, Toyota and Honda. "The Mazda6 is one of the core models which helped establish Mazda’s brand image globally,” he said.
“I was the first generation model’s development program manager, and I still have a special fondness for this terrific car. I’m grateful to the two million-plus customers around the world who have purchased a Mazda6. I would like to say thank you to each and every customer."
Congratulations to Mazda for achieving quite a milestone. Here’s to hoping that car number three million will come a lot sooner.
