Mazda's has revealed its latest concept car, the Kazamai, which is making its global debut at the 2008 Moscow Motor Show.
The name Kazamai can be translated from Japanese to mean 'swirling crosswinds' and this idea can be seen in the design: note the creases on the doors for instance.
More importantly however, the new Mazda Kazamai concept is rumoured to be the precursor to an all-new compact crossover vehicle, which could arrive in the new decade.
This all-new model could go by the name of the CX-5 or CX-4, a potential baby brother of the CX-7 and CX-9 crossover vehicles.
This Japanese concept car is also a coup for the Moscow Motor Show and a sign that the Russian car market is now an important market for mainstream car makers, due to its ability to deliver big revenue.
The Russian new car market recently overtook Germany as the largest in Europe with around 1.65 million annual sales.
Russia's middle class, not unlike China's, is rapidly growing in wealth and this is reflected in things like car sales and the increasing demand for luxury goods in the country of 140 million people.
The new Kazamai concept was designed to gauge the response from this prospering new market, whose sales of SUVs make up a large percentage of the new car market.
According to Mazda, the concept "is a sporty, compact crossover SUV designed especially for the Russian market".
Like Mazda's previous concept cars, such as the Ryuga and Taiki, the new SUV concept car will embody the Japanese car maker's 'Nagare' design philosophy, which can be read as 'flow'.
Mazda says that it's latest concept car "is designed to appeal particularly to younger SUV owners who have a strong sense of style".
"The Mazda Kazamai concept car addresses the growing popularity of SUVs in Russia and gives a strong hint at where Mazda might be going with a compact crossover SUV," says the company. A strong hint... Or perhaps a pre-production design?
As the images reveal, the new concept vehicle will have an overtly sporty design and is likely to be a smaller, sportier version of the CX-7 crossover vehicle.
Mazda has confirmed that the show car will sit on large 22-inch alloy wheels to "lend it high emotional appeal".
The trendy 4WD concept is a bit bigger than the Mazda3, measuring 1930mm wide and 4520mm long, and is powered by a next generation 2.0-litre petrol engine.
This 4-cylinder engine features Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI), which facilitates a cleaner burn. This results in more power, but reduces fuel waste and is claimed to improveefficiency by up to 30%.
The new 2.0-litre DISI engine will also deliver greatly reduced CO2 emissions and is coupled to a 6-speed automatic transmission mated to an four-wheel drive system.
Inside the Mazda Kazamai concept car there is room for four people, and according to its creator it features a "well considered human machine interface" to operate the vehicles controls.
The new concept car also pioneers an advanced body shell.
Mazda says it is employing a new construction method that is the product of a new body structure programme currently being refined by the company, and which features a lightweight structure that gives the car improved levels of crash safety, in the event of a collision.
Other safety features include dynamic stability control (DSC), roll stability control, a pre-crash safety system, and blind spot monitoring to assist lane change.
It even features forward-looking pedestrian safety solutions, such as soft plastic quarter panels and a shock-cone aluminium bonnet that do less damage to the human body.
And this one could be custom made for dangerous areas: a personal security system. This high tech system scans the area both outside and inside the car, and has an automatic alert system which informs the driver in the event of an emergency to help to protect both the owner and occupants.
