Two Lights Illuminating the Future of Kodo Design: Mazda’s Vision Models Point the Way

The overall silhouette and form convey a distinctive, powerful sense of movement and solid strength. Like the front, the rear centers on bold three-dimensional shapes, with the lights designed as part of the form itself.

A seamless face, new grille, and bold three-dimensional expression present a fresh take on Mazda’s brand identity. The lighting signature contributes to weight reduction and aerodynamics. The body color, which may appear white at first glance, is a newly developed “Glass Silver.” This next-generation paint combines the hardness of metal with a sense of transparency, creating a vivid, alluring finish.

Circular gauges line the horizontal instrument panel. Together with the round steering wheel and shift knob, the interior has an authentic feel. The infotainment screen sits where it won’t block the driver’s view, with essential driving information concentrated near the gauges to create a driver-focused space.

The concept is “a car that becomes a friend,” a vision model created to explore a new relationship where people and cars truly connect. A car that acts like a close companion, capable of engaging in natural conversation and suggesting destinations, building an interactive relationship that helps expand the driver’s world.

The Mazda Vision X-Compact fully embraces a fun and playful design. Beyond its approachable, lovable exterior, the car conveys solidity, one of the key concepts for these vision models.  

Led primarily by a young designer   at Mazda, the Mazda Vision X-Compact has a distinctive interior. It maintains visual continuity with the exterior while creating a casual, hop-in-and-go feel.

Ikuo Maeda. Joined Mazda in 1982. As Chief Designer, was responsible for iconic vehicles including the RX-8 and third-generation Demio. In 2010, as General Manager of the Design Division, introduced the “Kodo - Soul of Motion” design philosophy, establishing Mazda’s distinctive design language. Appointed Executive Officer in 2013    and Managing Executive Officer in 2016, bringing design and branding expertise to corporate identity and retail outlet branding. Currently serves as Executive Fellow for brand design and Head of Mazda Spirit Racing.

The Kodo design concept was something I introduced in 2010, the year after I was appointed Head of Design.  I knew it would take time for this concept to develop a philosophy and become a pillar of brand value, so I mapped out a 20-year plan for where I wanted Kodo to go. I divided those 20 years roughly into three phases. In the first phase, we pursued vitality, the core theme of Kodo design, drawing on nature and living creatures to breathe life into our cars. In the second phase, we set out to become a design brand that could represent Japan by exploring Japanese aesthetics. That meant stripping away elements to let simple beauty shine through, our “less is more” philosophy.

Photo 1: The Mazda Shinari concept car, unveiled during the first phase of Kodo design. / Photo 2: The Mazda RX-Vision and Mazda Vision Coupe from the second phase.

Norihito Iwao joined Mazda in 1993. After working on production vehicle parts design and the Titan truck, he moved to Advance Design. Starting with the RX-EVOLV unveiled at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show, he has led 13 show cars, concept cars, and vision models including Secret Hideout, Senku, Mazda RX-Vision, and Mazda Vision Coupe. He has also worked on production vehicles including the Mazda CX-5, Mazda CX-3, Mazda CX-50, and Mazda CX-60, as well as advanced design projects.

To bring Mazda’s future to life as vision models, I first brought people together into a group we called Team Vision. The team included people from different departments and backgrounds: not just designers, but clay modelers, digital modelers, and hard modelers. Normally, modelers shape what designers sketch. But here, they joined in the design thinking too. By proposing ideas beyond their usual roles, we raised both quality and precision. I think this kind of collaborative creation is uniquely Mazda.

It took about two years to turn the design vision into actual vehicles, and we tried many new things along the way. Of course we wanted to honor the heritage of Kodo design that Mazda has built. But we also kept searching for how to achieve evolution, what our next move should be and how to make it real. By pushing the less is more philosophy to its limits and sharpening strength, movement, and intent, we arrived at a design concept we call Solid Move. It’s a concept born from the team’s shared passion and countless rounds of trial and error. These two vision models are the result of something bigger, uniting everyone’s passion toward a single goal. They’re proof of what we can achieve when we build as a team.

The collaborative approach might sound democratic, but for each member, it was also a battle for their ideas. Some saw their ideas make it into the Mazda Vision X-Coupe or Mazda Vision X-Compact. Others didn’t. In that context, I see myself as a Design Creative Conductor. Like an orchestra conductor who knows each instrument’s sound and character, I needed to understand each team member and create an environment where they could keep contributing without losing heart. But I’m not just conducting, I’m also playing an instrument. By joining in the design work myself, I gained trust as a leader and could communicate with the team at their level, in their language.

A moment from the Mazda Vision X-Compact production. Working alongside team members to explore directions for the exterior surfaces, bringing the design closer to the ideal as a team.

Vision models like these go through fabrication with external model makers to become full-scale display vehicles. Reproducing our design accurately sometimes requires detailed, demanding exchanges. So before we started, I told our partners, “We’re not here as client and supplier. We’re one team, and we’re making something great together.” I asked for their help in making these vision models the best they could be. That passion got through, and the two cars you see here were fabricated with perfect precision.

Today at the booth, there was a woman who shed tears when the sunset in the video reflected off the Mazda Vision X-Coupe on the big screen. For me, design isn’t just about the quality of the form itself. It’s about moving people and enriching how they feel. Working on these vision models reminded me that moving people takes human effort and passion.

Eiji Kimoto joined Mazda in 2003. Despite a science background, he entered the automotive industry as a designer. After joining Mazda, he worked in the Advance Studio on show cars. He then led design for production vehicles targeting the US market, including the Mazda CX-9 and Mazda CX-50, followed by the Mazda EZ-60 EV unveiled last year. This year, he became General Manager for Mazda’s Design Division.

These vision models are the ultimate form of Kodo design right now, achieved by pushing less is more to its limits. The Mazda Vision X-Coupe in particular marks the starting line for Mazda’s future direction, and I’m already excited thinking about how to bring its essence into our production vehicles. It’s a challenge that’s exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time.

Maeda built Kodo design into something that’s taken root across the company and is recognized by people around the world as a brand in its own right. After he steps back, I have a responsibility to preserve the heritage of Kodo design and what makes Mazda design distinctive. That’s my job as Head of Design.

What I value most as a designer is finding solutions no one saw coming. I want to create designs that go beyond what people imagine, but not in a way that feels unfamiliar. I want customers to see it and think, “Yes! This is exactly what I was looking for.” These vision models set the direction, but simply copying elements into production cars wouldn’t do them justice. The real excitement is finding ways to go beyond what people expect. So to all the car lovers and Mazda fans out there I say, watch this space to see the next phase of Kodo design.

For the Mazda Vision X-Coupe, the highlight is the cockpit. The moment you open the door, the triple gauges, steering wheel, and shift lever draw your eye, creating a space that makes you want to drive. We wanted to create a new kind of Mazda interior that pulls you deeper into the driving experience. The challenge was expressing heritage and evolution, our Neo-Authentic concept, throughout the interior. For heritage, we focused on a simple structure that lets you concentrate on driving. For evolution, we worked with CMF designers (Color, Material, Finish) who specialize in sustainable materials and surface finishes, as well as interface designers, testing ways to create a space that responds to human senses. By working together as a team to incorporate the values, digital elements, and the needs of a modern era into the interior, we were able to realize the dual concept of heritage and evolution.

I was mainly responsible for the interior of the Mazda Vision X-Compact. The red body exterior cuts across the interior, making you feel the car up close and creating a space where person and car connect directly. The challenge was maintaining quality and creating a driver-focused cockpit within a simple layout, without it looking too plain. We gave the cockpit a sense of presence and worked carefully on details around the gauges and steering wheel. I paid particular attention to how we placed the gauges and smartphone dock together within the steering wheel, putting all the information in one place so you can stay immersed in driving. We also used details like wire-suspended gauges and an exposed frame structure, keeping things visually simple while maintaining functionality. The result is a clean interior you can just hop into and go. And because the design is so minimalistic, you can put your own stamp on it.

For the Mazda Vision X-Coupe, my focus was making the whole car feel like one solid form. We structured the form so that energy flows outward from the center of the silhouette toward each wheel, wrapping around the whole car. That’s how we gave shape to the less is more philosophy. We also controlled the contrast in the surfaces to express the speed and powerful beauty that define Mazda. The hardest part was interpreting Solid Move and translating it into three dimensions. Push too hard on solid and you lose movement. Bring out movement and it doesn’t feel solid enough. To balance these opposing ideas, we deliberately softened some areas. Through that give and take, we found a balance of allure, strength, and lightness.

Mazda’s first passenger car  was the R360 Coupe, a small, lovable vehicle built for everyday use. I wanted to bring something new to this company’s history of small cars and write a fresh chapter. That’s the spirit I brought when I started sketching the Mazda Vision X-Compact as exterior lead.

I focused on two challenges. First, expressing the structure and form as one. The result is something classical yet modern and approachable, with a lovable look you can recognize from 100 meters away. Second, the expression. The challenge was combining cuteness with coolness and confidence. That was the hardest part. We worked as a team refining the design right down to the line, and the result was something that you’d want to use every day, like a favorite and familiar tool. When the car was finished, I was moved to tears. It felt like something new had come to life in Mazda design. That’s what we mean by “soul of motion”—something that can move your very soul. As a designer, I hope everyone who sees this car feels something too.

I worked on color, material, and finish for both vision models. For the Mazda Vision X-Coupe, we developed a new body color called Glass Silver. Starting from the Neo-Authentic concept, we explored what essential values should be carried into the future through CMF. As we interpreted how Kodo design could be in harmony with nature, I began to see water as a way to express the vitality of life. So we decided to strip away color and challenge ourselves with texture alone. We wanted a modern, alluring silver that felt transparent yet still conveyed the strength of metal. I hope people can see how its beauty comes from reflecting the colors around it, and get this sense of a car from a brighter future. We layered ultra-fine metal particles over a light gray base to create that see-through metal quality. The tricky part was that the color looked different between test sprays and the final application. It was a real challenge to track down the cause, and recreate the exact color from the paint booth at Mazda HQ in the manufacturer’s facility. For the interior, we used sea wool, a fiber made from recycled oyster shells, on the seats. We also drew inspiration from the Seto Inland Sea for the interior Sea Green color. Since we held back on color with the body, we used color to add a touch of playfulness. The result is a sophisticated space that’s quietly refined and effortlessly comfortable.

For the Mazda Vision X-Compact, I wanted the opposite of the Coupe: something bright and fun. We used Viola Red, the same vivid color from the Mazda Iconic SP at last year’s Japan Mobility Show. With the Solid Move concept, we felt a solid color would bring out the solidity better than metallic. It also suits the car’s slightly retro feel. The challenge was the seat covering. We made fine adjustments to preserve the shape, hiding seams in places you can’t see. What I focused on most was the contrast between hard and soft: the exposed red frame against the materials that wrap around it. The sporty synthetic leather recalls a racing bicycle saddle. The nylon fabric suggests durable outdoor gear. There’s recycled carbon that looks like Japanese washi paper, mechanical metal, advanced transparent materials, and wire. We balanced all these different elements with the interior designer to create something unified. It achieves a sporty appearance while also using only sustainable materials. It’s cute, cool, and has a great personality. If I were choosing a partner, that’s who I’d want. (laughs)

Team Vision with the vision models (clay model stage). Building two vision models at once was a first for Mazda. Many team members said that successfully showing both at Japan Mobility Show was only possible because of the collaborative environment that crossed individual specialties.

By pursuing the less is more aesthetic and designing the movement of the structure itself, the car expresses dynamic motion across its entire form: a strong force from the rear pushing forward. Rather than the previous approach of moving light, Solid Move is a new approach where the structure moves and light follows. The reflections on the body sides reveal just how detailed the design work is.

The triple gauges catch your eye the moment you open the door, sparking the desire to drive. The interior color, Sea Green, was inspired by the Seto Inland Sea. Combined with indirect lighting, the cabin balances quality with comfort. The seats use a fiber made from recycled oyster shells, proposing a new approach to oyster shell disposal, a challenge local to Hiroshima.

Classical yet modern and approachable, with a lovable look you can spot from across the street. It’s not just cute, there’s coolness and confidence there too. The kind of partner you’d want by your side every day.

The vivid Viola Red body color cuts across the cabin, creating a distinctive interior. Materials that range from sporty synthetic leather, durable outdoor-gear style nylon fabric and recycled carbon resembling Japanese washi paper to mechanical metal, advanced transparent materials, and wire are balanced into a unified whole. It achieves a sporty appearance while also using only sustainable materials, exactly what you would want in a partner for the next generation.