After presenting three ground-breaking concept vehicles during the 2005-2006 global auto show season – Sassou, Senku and the Kabura, which won Detroit Motor Show’s esteemed Aesthetics and Innovation Award at the 2006 North American International Auto Show – the 2007-2008 Auto Show Season continues to keep energy levels brimming with the introduction of Mazda’s design and surface language for future Zoom-Zoom vehicles. The new surface language called Nagare (pronounced “na-ga-reh”) was revealed at this year’s Greater Los Angeles International Auto Show and is the first of a series of design concepts that Mazda will showcase this global auto show season, including Los Angeles, Detroit, Geneva and Tokyo.

Under the direction of Mazda’s new global design director, Laurens van den Acker, the challenge given to the team was to invent a novel means of registering motion in vehicles whether they’re moving or still. Nagare, which means flow in Japanese, achieves that goal while also signaling a fresh design direction for future Mazda vehicles.

Franz von Holzhausen, Mazda North American Operations’ (MNAO) Director of Design, and the man responsible for leading the US-based design team, which developed this vehicle, explains, “We’re looking well down the road with Nagare. We want to suggest where Mazda design will be in 2020. To do that, we redefined basic proportions and the idea of driving without losing the emotional involvement. Mazda’s driving spirit will be enhanced and intensified by Nagare.