It’s no secret that the Mazda Hazumi that is celebrating its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show previews the next-generation Mazda2 supermini, and that’s a good thing judging from the way the study looks. The new concept car builds on Mazda’s KODO design philosophy, sporting similar cues to the new Mazda3 and Mazda6.

Hazumi is a Japanese word meaning to “bound” or “spring up” and was chosen to convey an image of a small but vigorous animal, bursting with energy. “Whereas with longer models such as the Shinari we use long and free lines of motion stretching from front to back to express KODO, with Hazumi we’ve created a form which suggests explosive motion,” says Hazumi chief designer Ryo Yanagisawa.

Sized similarly to the current Mazda2, the study features an athletic stance, with the compact cabin placed as far to the rear as possible moving the center of gravity near the rear wheels. The wedge shaped body starts from the low and pronounced nose and rises toward the rear to impart a strong sense of forward motion. The short overhangs and pronounced fenders underline the car’s strong and athletic stance.

On the inside, the Hazumi has a clean dashboard, with the instrument panel shaped like the wing of an airplane and the center console suspended like a bridge, enhancing the feeling of space and creating more room in the foot wells.

The instrument cluster is designed around the driver’s center axis and features a single, centrally-positioned gauge with displays spreading like wings on either side. The layout of the center display, Active Driving Display, and commander control, is based on Mazda’s Human Machine Interface (HMI) concept called the Heads-Up Cockpit.

The materials used for the controls and displays combine hard chiseled metal with deep acrylic material, while black and white leather adorns the seats and the instrument panel, respectively.

The Mazda study is powered with 1.5-liter Skyactiv-D diesel engine mated to a six-speed automatic, which emits under 90 grams of CO2 per kilometer and fulfills Euro 6 emissions requirements. Mazda Hazumi is also fitted with the i-ACTIVSENSE advanced safety technologies based on Mazda Proactive Safety.

By Dan Mihalascu

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