THE ALL-NEW MAZDA6 HAS BEEN HONOURED WITH A 2013 RED DOT AWARD, CAPTURING THE INTERNATIONALLY-RECOGNISED PRIZE FOR OUTSTANDING PRODUCT DESIGN
Leverkusen, 4 April 2013. The all-new Mazda6 has been honoured with a 2013 red dot award, capturing the internationally-recognised prize for outstanding product design. It is yet another accolade for Mazda’s striking new flagship and the company’s revolutionary “KODO – Soul of Motion” design theme.
The 37-head jury of independent design experts, who judged entries according to nine criteria, honoured the KODO-inspired MAZDA6 for qualities such as its high level of design innovation. KODO is Mazda’s award-winning design template for its new generation of vehicles. Inspired by the explosive release of energy observed in animals or athletes springing into motion, KODO symbolises Mazda’s distinctive vitality and agility, providing the perfect complement for the company’s convention-defying approach to fun-to-drive cars. Other prizes it has captured thus far include Auto Bild’s 2012 European Design Award (Mazda CX-5, the first KODO model) and first place in the concept car category at the German Design Council’s Automotive Brand Contest 2012 (Mazda Takeri).
Based on the Takeri concept, the new Mazda6 – the company’s second KODO model – features the full range of ground-breaking SKYACTIV Technology to deliver Mazda’s distinctive Jinba Ittai one-with-the-car feeling. Embodying the Sustainable Zoom-Zoom vision in its most advanced form yet, Mazda’s latest flagship delivers class-leading fuel economy, performance and safety.
“We were aiming with the new Mazda6 to awaken the observer’s senses and turn heads with an uncompromising balance and proportion that instantly makes one want to get in the car and drive,” says Peter Birtwhistle, chief designer at Mazda’s European R&D Centre. “The red dot award for product design is a very prestigious testimony to what we have achieved at Mazda with the bold expressions personified by KODO.”
About the red dot design award
Initiated in 1955 by the Germany-based Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, the red dot design award is one of the world’s largest design competitions. Prizes are granted for product design, design concept and communication design. Mazda and other winners of the “red dot award: product design 2013”, which saw 4,662 entries by 1,865 manufacturers from 54 countries, will receive their awards on 1 July at the Aalto Theatre in Essen. The products themselves have earned the privilege to bear the “red dot” symbol, internationally acknowledged as a seal of design excellence.
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Text and photograph by: MAZDA.
