Here it is, the template for the next Mazda3, due to be shown to the public this weekend at the 2017 Tokyo Motor Show. Probably. In fact, do take that presumption with a grain of salt as this is still very much in the concept stage of things. Not least of which because Mazda outright calls it a concept, but also due to the many changes and adaptations to the final product that would be applied between now and 2019, which is when an all-new 3 is expected to be rolled out.
While there aren’t any concrete facts and figures we can associate with the car’s internals, we do know that Mazda has already taken the liberty of fitting it with their prototype SkyActiv-X petrol engine - due to be the first mass production motor that uses homogeneous charge compression ignition - and further cementing this as nothing else but a springboard for the next-generation 3 hatch.
It’s unclear whether this car's engine would also make use of a supercharger to boost low-end torque, balancing that with the impressive claimed fuel efficiency gains and emissions reductions that arrive with the lean burning attributes of this new combustion technology.
Elsewhere, the real story of this car obviously surrounds its design. Mazda had set the bar quite high with the conceptual precursor to the current 3, and weren’t lying when they alluded to its successor adopting a more evolutionary approach to that prior design. The Kai Concept takes their KODO aesthetic philosophy together what is a rather familiar silhouette and adopts the more matured cues most recently seen on the second-generation Mazda CX-5.
This not being an SUV, more liberties were taken in sculpting a more muscular body that seems to ditch the pronounced character lines that defined Mazda’s original interpretation with a more subtly contoured exterior that’s still playful with light and shadow.
What isn’t iterative, though, is what the Kai’s interior portends for the future of Mazda cars. Minimalism has been thoroughly absorbed, merged here with their red on black motif and driver focused layout. Gone is the central touchscreen and various buttons along the centre stack (we’re even struggling to pinpoint where the air vents are), replaced with smooth surfaces and a curiously vertically challenged screen that runs two thirds across the dashboard used to display the various in-car, media, navigation, and connectivity information.
The gear lever sits in a pool of a dark piano black surround that hides an OLED panel beneath, much like what Porsche is doing with the Panamera and Cayenne, and a circular glass touch pad presumably replaces the tactile rotary dial for the current MZD Connect infotainment setup.
The Hiroshima-based automaker will also surely elaborate further on the car’s updated SkyActiv architecture in the lead-up to the car’s production launch. However, because that isn’t something that isn’t very visually interesting, they’ve limited the details to highlights its broader plus points for now. Expect the usual improvements on overall weight, weight distribution, structural rigidity, modularity as well as its preparedness to accommodate hybrid or fully electric powertrains, and efficiency of materials.
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