Peskett’s Ponderings: Mazda. The happy car company?

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By Karl Peskett | April 17th, 2009

Call me crazy, but when I buy a car, or even look at a car, I like it to have a little bit of dynamism about it. A slightly aggressive look even. Something that stares you down, and makes your heart race.

Which is why I love Aston Martin’s DBS, BMW’s M3, and the Lamborghini Gallardo. But now, I’m a bit concerned as to where Mazda’s design language is going. One of our readers alerted us to this recently, and it got me thinking.

To me, a car should have personality, sure, but I think Mazda is taking it a little bit too far. It first concerned me on the MX-5. But now, with the new 3, and the CX-7 sporting that gaping grin, I don’t think that Pixar’s Cars should have been translated into real life.

You want to be excited by a car’s design. You want people to want what you’ve got. Not for 12 year old girls to look at your roadster and say “Awwwww, how cute.”

In music terms, I’m thinking Rob Dougan’s Chateau, not REM’s Smiley Happy People.

Hey, I might be on my own here, but let me know what you think.

o

i thought that about the Mazda 3 until i saw it in the metal yesterday and it looked great but im not sure it will work on the 6. mazda needs to bring the concept face into its cars more
RoFlmaTiC

I think you should have put the picture of the Mazda 3 Joker Karl

The smile on the 6 is palatable but on the new 3 its absolutely horrendous.
Iz

Hah I love the first picture, but I understand whole-heartedly. Every single Mazda model has the same “corporate look” (i.e. the designers are getting lazy).

Corporate (sic: similar) looks are all well and good in a company’s image (what with instant recognition being a big part in realising a car etc), but designers have to tread a fine line between ‘just another face on another body’ and ‘part of the family’.

Ford is an example. The Ford “family” (Fiesta right up to Territory) has something “Ford” about it; and this, in my opinion, works well. Sure the Territory looks dated, but it -is- the oldest car that Ford are selling at the mo.

A bad example of a corporate face is Peugeot. Everything had the same gaping mouth and slack jaw and squinty, stretched eyes. Yeah sure, you know its a Peugeot from about 40,000 miles away, but it all looks identical, no differentiation at all.

This, I feel, is becoming a problem with Mazda’s design language. Its meant to be emulating its Zoom Zoom philosophy, instead EVERYTHING it makes has its cutesy, “I’m happy” face with no differentiation.

You could argue Audi is just as much to blame, but their entire car looks the same as the one before it (A6 being a jumped up A4, and conversely the A8 being an XL-A6) but their new design language is translating marginally better as time goes on (or we’re just used to it now =p)
RoFlmaTiC

Though I should add that its a shame given then the new 3 is otherwise a great car.
Twilight

so happy…

they should re-make a happy disney movie with mazdas!

mx-5 for the princess, rx-8 for the handsome prince, and cx-9 for the evil step mother, haha.
Iz

Also, anyone seen the “corporate face” of Mitsubishi lately? EVERYTHING has the same nose from the Lancer..
Twilight

IZ, same with Audi though, they all have that massive front grill – though looking scarsley different…

BMW, always has kidney grill and “hoffmeister kink” (kink in the rear window) which in my opinion holds the best brand identity
RoFlmaTiC

But the corporate face of mitsubishi looks good

Actually that emoticon should be more >:-| to fit with mitsubishi
smokin’r32

For the most part agree, though that rx-8 in the final shot still looks pretty menacing. I could never see what the fuss was about with the original 3 though, always thought it looked like a mini PT cruiser so I guess the new one is a bit of an improvement
Technofreak

I agree Karl.

The smiley face thing would have worked on the Mazda2….but not every model in the lineup!
Mick

I can’t say I’ve noticed it until all the pictures are lined up like this! What are Mazda thinking?
Sure like Iz said Audi and BMW have a corporate face as well but they don’t have a stupid big grin. Kidney grills and large front grill are a corporate look, then there is a massive smile.
Could be worse… could look like Mitsubishi…?
Alex

I do agree to a certain point but you know what annoys me? Say a company has a really good looking car on sale and you really love it, then they bring out the new model. Now, you don’t actually like the new model but what it has done is made the old one look a bit boring in your eyes. Aston Martin has just done this to me. I think that the Vantage is the best looking Aston Martin ever made, it’s perfect. But then they bring along the One-77 and it makes the still beautiful Vantage look a bit staid. Still fantastic but not as daring.
I think Mazda has done this with the 3. The new one could have been fine if that smile had either been drawn slightly differently or if it was just the tiniest bit smaller. It’s made the new one look flimsy and made the very handsome previous model look boring. It now looks like the old model.
I don’t mind the MX-5 update though I think we are very lucky that the smile was kept that small.
To me, and you may disagree but I think it’s true, this generation of Mazdas that we’re seeing now are just a bridge between the really good looking ones we had just a year ago and the really futuristic ones that we won’t be getting until 2020 or whenever.
Saying that, I don’t like the futuristic ones either. Why do cars have to get futuristic? The worlds needs beauty, not the views of sci-fi writers. That’s where all this design that we keep getting from Mazda, Nissan and Honda is coming from and quite frankly, if it doesn’t look as good as a V8 Vantage (in a different way and a different body style of course) then what’s the point in releasing it?
bruster

can car advice put the peugeot 308 and Mazda3 side by side.
i spotted these two cars yesterday at the same time and i tell you, you could easily put a peugeot badge in the mazda and you could almost not tell the difference.

personally im not happy with the Mazda3 latest design, i’ll take mazda 6 any day.
Alex

I don’t think people should be saying what they think is good and bad here. I personally like the look of Peugeot, Audi, BMW, Ford etc. All companies have a company look and this is needed for brand identity and so one model doesn’t look drastically different to another.
The point her is, has Mazda gone too far? The 3 is very gaping and the others are on their way. Peugeots are beginning to look restrained.
Andrew

It’s an evolution of the 5 point grille that was introduced back in about 2000, I think on the GF 626. Just like car badges getting bigger and bigger…
JML

I’ll make a bet that Mazda will follow Subaru’s pattern from the last few Imprezas and rush through a face-lift before you can say, “Fugly.”
fasthonda

I’m sure the Mazda 3 is a very good car but I agree that the “smiling face” does look cartoonish.
It’s MPS 3 version will be fast but it’s hardly got that “mean” look about it.Even if I get “dragged off” at the lights by one of these I’m going laugh about being passed by a big “smile”
I find the Mazda 6 looks like a smile with teeth missing on each side!
http://entrepreneurs-journey.com Yaro

Aww, happy cars, yay!
Ash

Have any of you knockers ACTUALLY looked at the new Mazda 3, RX-8 or Any of their new line up.
I had a Physical look at the new Mazda 3 Today and it is FANTASTIC, one of the best styled small cars I have Ever seen, Pictures do not do this car justice at all.
On paper I really disliked it, in reality I love them all, so I went and bought the new RX-8 in white, it is SUPERB.
absi

i agree; the broad grin is getting a bit over the top for my liking. i don’t mind the corporate look idea, as long as the look is nice…

mazda’s are nice cars and most of them look nice, but if the 3 is a sign of things to come in the future, then they need to taper that grin to a more aggressive look!
Ash

BTW, I also read people complaining about the look of the new Nissan 370Z, “oh it looks so Sad and like a CAT FISH”.
So how come the Mitsubishi Lancer or Audi cars don’t get a bad report when they look like a Whale Mouth?..

Why is it that some people humanize cars?, they are pieces of plastic and metal..NOT Humans or Animals.

Personally, I think too many “children” posts comments on motoring websites they know little about.

Every one wants the Mazda Furai it has the same large 5 point grille as the Mazda 3, so what is the difference.

Mazda are to be applauded for styling fun and fresh looking cars that live up to their advertising hype, Zoom ZOOM, ZooM is real…

Oh you are a Boring lot, you want cars to look the same or like yours…get over it!
RoFlmaTiC

Post decisional justification is a glorious thing isn’t it Ash?
Alex

Ash said “Why is it that some people humanize cars?, they are pieces of plastic and metal..NOT Humans or Animals.” – Because we are car enthusiasts. You obviously are not. They are not humans or animals but that doesn’t mean that you don’t get attached to them. I was engaged to a woman that I had been dating for six years until three years ago when she went all green and wanted me to cancel the order for a certain BMW I was expecting and to also get rid anything that was an SUV or had more than eight cylinders (she was a nazi in other words) but I loved my cars so much that I kept them and got rid of her. She drives a Prius now so I would have broken up with her eventually anyway but still. People can be very attached to cars.
And come on, the 370z REALLY does look like a dead cat fish. Though it is growing on me.
o

response to the 3 has been positive and the MPS version looks great.Also subaru hasnt rushed a facelift on the current model
Tom

I only have a problem with the 3

it is overtly offensiev
GGG

I’d still take a smiley face over some of the sh*t Subaru has been pulling lately (in particluar the WRX sedan and the US liberty concept).
http://www.ozmazdaclub.com Ozmazdaclub

Its great to see that we all have personal views on what looks good or not. My opinion is that the new 3 looks fresh and bald…..Well done Mazda for pushing the envelope….
sleepless

I agree wif Buster… the front grill looks like a PUG…
which I commented in Mazda3 first drive….

it also looks like most cars design doesn’t deter from the older version. e.g. Golf, Mazda, Focus…

only Subie has a major change for the impreza, forester…
Impreza back looks good but the front grills sucks…

Forester looks good in every angle
Milsie

Totally agree with you Karl!

They have taken slightly agressive, but still cheeky designs and applied this big cheesy grin to all of their vehicles. I especially think that the big smiley face they are planning to release on the CX-9 is totally inappropriate. When does a big sophisticated looking SUV, targeted to a much older buyer, warrant a big cheesy grin? I hope this effects Mazda’s sales and that this is only a phase that they are going through. One that leads to bigger and better things.
I AM, however, slightly relieved that van den Acker (former chief of design at Mazda) has resigned and I hope the new chief of design can take his eraser and wipe the smug grin off their entire range…
Until then, I will be keeping Mazda at an arms length, which is a right shame because in my opinion, their vehicles are the best in their class.
Gambler88

agree with ash 100% there. the new rx8 looks really menacing in flesh, especially the gt version with its bodykit and recardo seat. I saw a new black mazda 3 this morning while I was waiting at the traffic light and it makes me want to get one straight away ;p
Falcodore

The 3 looks good in person, much better than in photos. The reason for the one big air intake is that it is (i think) about 20% more efficient, in terms of cooling for the engine bay, and is more aerodynamic than the previous model.

If you have a good look at it,there is actually a lot of attention to detail in the design, as there is with all Mazda’s cars.

Yeah, there’s people who arent gunna like it, but then there’s people who think the Nissan Micra is cute (same people?)

Personally i think Mazda has the best, most progressive design language around ATM.
o

dont worry all how funny is it going to be som1 super mad behind u like all red in the face shouting then u look at there car and just burst into laughter
Hjalle

The new Mazda face is awful, my mate once told me that cars have facial expressions. I have been seeing it in cars after he told me this but Mazda has taken it abit far. The point isnt to design the car around a facial expression the expression just kinda happens
ZoomZoom

Great to see that those who have seen the car in person can actuallly appreciate what a good looking vehicle the new mazda 3 is.

I bet more than half of you who are laughing at its design haven’t actually seen it in the flesh.
J

The new mazda 3 does have a big smiley grin. So what! I actually sell Mazda and agree that first viewed I thought oh no what have they done, to one of the top selling cars in the country. But after looking and selling them everyday it has grown on me to the point that the super seeded car now looks dated. The fact that the forward orders and response from the public has been nothing but positive, suggests that it will continue to succeed in being one of the top selling vehicles in the country. and besides park it next to any of its competitors including the new golf and lets see which one has a more sporty and youthfull look. Big grin or not.
ben

well the ever increasing market share over the last 7 years tells the story it works. enough said.
maximark

J, you must be joking to say the new 3 has a sporty look. I would say it looks ‘ girly” rather than youthful..well maybe ‘ youthful girly” if that’s what you meant. If the golf is as cheap as the 3, it will outsell the 3 and will be the top seller for sure.
Andrew

J, I agree the Mazda is a better looking car but the Golf is not designed for the same target market as the 3 and this is also reflected in price and engine choices.

Maximark, I disagree that if the Golf was the same price as the 3 it would be a top seller. Mainly it has to do with the audience the car is designed for, the Mazda3 targets a more youthful demographic where the Golf’s perceived quality and understated style point it towards different buyers. Then let’s not forget if it was the same price as the 3 it would not have the same high level of engineering or material quality.
Simon

“One of our readers alerted us to this recently….”

Seriously, don’t you read any CA comments???
Carl

When i first saw the new 3 the first thing that hit me was how exaggerated and ugly that smile was and what a shame such a good car was being spoilt by such a childish design.
in my opinion the Japanese have very particular tastes in car designs and their weird impulses are constantly being controlled by people with better tastes….HOWEVER….every now and then something like this gets out.
Ash

Alex says, “I am not an automotive enthusiast”…that is why I own the latest Mazda RX-8!..and soon latest MX-5..I hope…so I will have two GREAT cars…
http://skyline The Salesman

Smile and the world will smile with you. Is this the thinking of Mazda? Its a bold move. But i bet you know that it’s a Mazda well before you see the badge and that’s the desired goal i am sure. Karl mentioned 12 year olds think its cute. Those 12 year olds are going to buy cars one day and if Mazda has done their work properly than Mazda will be on the top of their minds. Along with lollipops and rainbows.
Ash

BTW..Mazda have been using this “5 Point” Grille design since the early 2000′s it is just larger…

So, “Happy” cars do sell well, Mazda the largest car importer in Australia and number 4 on the Aussie Charts, Mazda Japan are the 2ND Largest Car exporter in their home country.

Record sales in Europe, China, Russia, Australia before the meltdown…

Must be doing something right?
Andrew M

Test drove the new 3 today.

Does look better in the flesh, also chose your colour wisely.
some colours detract from the grin whilst other colours make the grin the focus (pardon the pun).

eitherway, its the best inclass to drive and best interior
Falcodore

Andrew M, be interested to know what model you tested and why you think its best in class…if you dont mind, thanks.
Andrew M

Falcadore,
Recently Ive been through the small car range

There is a few i wont mention for obvious reasons (waste of time)

Impreza has reasonable seats, but the rest of the interior is pretty hard. It also feels very sluggish.
Also surprisingly the steering is very very light and doesnt give much road feel. Also seemed to be down on a few features.

Lancer has plenty of features for a great price but interior quality looks suspect on below VRX models. Also the CVT model is very sluggish. Also poor rear visibility for a small car

Focus is a great handler, but its looking a bit bland inside. New model outnow, havent driven it yet, but its rearend needs restyling and the interior although looking better doesnt feel as welcoming as the mazda.

(I Drove the Maxx Sport)
Mazda feels very punchy in the old model, and the new model feels even more so. Interior quality also feels good, just like the previous model did. Good road holding like its sister car too.
And if you havent heard, resale is awesome on the mazda.
Andrew M

Oh,
And they obviously did work on reducing road noise, and it has paid off
Falcodore

Yeah Andrew M, i know very well about Mazdas resale. My particular car can fetch up to about $6,400, not bad for an 11 year old car.

Oh, and if you want to know about build quality, reliability etc just ask. Will be happy to tell you anything you want to know.
Camski

“Awwwww, how cute.” (My reaction to the first pic. of the Mazda 3)

Granted, it looks kinda stretched in that picture, but doesn’t it look cute? =P

Andrew M – That’s really good news about the new generation Mazda 3, the last one set the bar high with a surprisingly engaging drive, tidy interior, sporty exterior design and good build quality. If the new one does this and so much more, looks like Mazda have another winner on their hands.
Andrew M

Camski,
The last mod mazda 3 is still a good car. IMO it was ahead of the competition before this new gen.
Now they have refined it that little bit more to make a great car to drive a fantastic one, and if you can see the front end as livable, its a hands down winner

Falcadore,
Dont need to question you on build quality what so ever.
I already have no hesitations in buying the 3, I just dont know which one to get.
A runout last mod SP23 for less than the Maxx Sport might even tempt me yet…..And the last gen design seems ageless, its been around a while, and still looks good
Falcodore

Agree Andrew M, most of Mazdas designs seem to age really well. Even thier cars from the early to mid 90s still look good today IMO.

Also, my brother bought a 3 in january and is extremely happy with it after owning a Corolla. Hes always looking for an excuse to go for a drive, even if its just to the shops.
http://google.com I deg of

Now for the big question: Will the new 3 continue the success of the last? Maybe the sales of the outgoing model was really good in its last months because people prefer it over the new one.
WVB

mazda’s engineering always has cred. no question.
but i maintain the pixar grin looks ridiculous and you cant wipe it off………….
I think i’m with you KP on the mild aggressive looks moniker. Take a newish ’6′. I think the accord euro and even the new liberty have a better direction in the ultimate allround future looks dept IMO.
Mr Brooksy

Completely agree with your thoughts Car Advice.

Thing is though, when you said “Not for 12 year old girls to look at your roadster and say “Awwwww, how cute.”” your forgetting that in 4 years time Mummy and Daddy may just be buying a car for them… which one will they buy?

In another recent article I read in NRMA mag, they tested the Mazda 2 and new Ford Fiesta, the female tester loved the looks of the “2″ and the bloke thought the “Fiesta” looked much better.

I wonder whether Mazda are looking at being the “Marie Claire” of cars, appealing primarily to the female market? Then putting bonnet lumps on them (aka SP models) for the fashionable boys out there?

Give me an aggresive looking sedan anyday of the week, but dare I say it… “we live in a brave new world” dont we?
Arcangel

The Japanese for many years have had a superstition about putting “un-happy” faces on cars, inparticular inverting the grill – which was why some were surprised by the agressive grill of the Lancer/Evo. But I think the folks at Mazda a bit cannier than that – think about it – young female buyers are begining to be a significant portion of the new small car market – and “cute” generally will work a treat on that segment.
http://ozmpsclub.com ozmpsclub

I dropped into a Syd Mazda Dealer on Sat and the yard was full of people looking and test driving the new 3…while I was there 5 people walked out of the showroom after signing up for a new 3….I got to drive an auto 3 neo hatch and a manual SP25 sedan….I still prefer the hatch over the sedan…the 2ltr with the 5spd auto surprised me with its smoothness thru the gears…the 6spd man SP25 only had a few hundred kays on it but I was amazed with its raspy exhaust note and its torquness…..the interiors are nicely set out…..well done Mazda on a great small mid size car and sorting out those small issues from the previous model……now just bring on the MPS….as I red one or black will replace my current MPS 3
gearboxdawg

Japanese design philosophy takes more focus into personality, positive energy and like fengshui wants to create positive impressions.

I can see the smiley face is part and parcel of Japanese design. Just as the Chinese are very fond of the number 8 in their rego plates and telephone numbers.

The design philosophy extends to the car headlamps and rear headlights. It has to be created with symbols of luck, fortune and aversion to anything to be seen as unlucky.

If you ask what car a Japanese person will buy, of course they will go for cars which have design that look cool and generate symbols of luck.

You don\’t see any East Asians driving cars with 4, because the number 4 sounds like death in the local language.
paul

Happy car is happy.