Three new Mazdas claim top Red Dot awards

Three new Mazdas claim top Red Dot awards

Mazda is set to carry away three accolades for the all-new Mazda MX-5, Mazda CX-3 and Mazda2 from the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015 ceremony in June 2015.

The fourth-generation of the iconic MX-5 has been awarded the "Red Dot: Best of the Best" award - the contest's highest distinction, bestowed on only 1.6 per cent of the submissions this year for exceptionally ground-breaking designs.

The CX-3 - Mazda's first small SUV - was chosen for a Red Dot award for outstanding design quality, while the new Mazda2 will receive an "honourable mention".

Initiated in 1955 by the Essen, Germany-based Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, Red Dot is the world's largest and most prestigious product competition. For the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015, the international jury of designers, professors and journalists evaluated 4,928 submission from 56 countries.

The Red Dot jury assessed the entries based on a number of criteria ranging from design innovation to functionality, ergonomics and ecological compatibility.

Kevin Rice, Mazda's European design director, said: "This recognition from Red Dot is a testimony to KODO's flexibility and the artistic freedom it gives us. KODO captures the moment of pent-up energy before an athlete or animal springs into motion. One way to control the visual energy is to 'compress' and 'release' it as it moves along the body of a car, as we have done with the new MX-5.

"The new CX-3 takes a different artistic approach by blending the two main volumes of the car and creating the energy that way. The Mazda2 is different again, demonstrating how KODO helps us give each car its own individual character".

Mazda will receive its awards on 29 June at the Aalto Theatre in Essen.

by: Sophie Williamson-Stothert