The season of Christmas shopping and running the family around for festive get-togethers may be an opportune time to launch a multi-purpose vehicle. Although the timing was coincidental, when the wrapping came off the 2011 Mazda 5 MPV in Hong Kong this month, the Japanese carmaker's compelling gift was a sportier and more stylish reincarnation of the compact people carrier.
The basic dimensions are little changed, but while the design of the previous model might not have warranted a second glance, the new-look 5 has a more distinctive - and technically sophisticated - design. It has also had an engine upgrade, so it pumps out more horsepower.
Mazda's Nagare (flow) design concept, first unveiled in the form of a futuristic concept car at the Los Angeles Auto Show in 2006, has finally trickled down to what is essentially a sensible family car. So there's nothing clunky looking about this multi-purpose vehicle.
The Nagare concept was the result of design studies into motion and 'the effect it has on its natural surroundings'. It has given the new Madza 5's exterior bodywork a flow line that begins with a flat ridge over the front wheels and then turns inwards to become a groove that runs along the length of the sides, just under the door handles, before meeting the tail lights. Another groove is featured just above the base of the doors. It looks better than it sounds, and the concept lends the car a more aggressive yet elegant appearance. In practical terms, it's all about better aerodynamics, lower wind noise and improved fuel efficiency, which Mazda says has been achieved here.
Another feature of the exterior design is a wide smiley grille, a huge improvement in the looks department compared with its predecessor's thin slit of a grille, and the car now has narrow elongated headlamps.
Since utility is the catchword of those looking to buy vehicles of this type, the inside is where it really matters, and space-wise the interior of the Mazda 5 appears little different from the competing cars in the compact MPV class (the smallest people-carriers) - the Honda Stream and Toyota Wish.
