Mazda Hakaze Concept Revealed

Press Release

Market Inspiration - A Look at Advanced Product Planning

Cross-Functionality for Concept Development

While the new Mazda Hakaze design concept is a look into a possible future compact crossover vehicle from Mazda, it is nonetheless a concept rooted in reality. It meets the unmet needs of a growing compact segment trend towards SUV-like crossovers in Europe, making it a valid proposal, despite its futuristic attributes. To ensure Mazda Hakaze and all upcoming concepts from Mazda Motor Europe are not merely flights of fancy, an Advanced Product Planning (APP) team was assigned to Mazda Motor Europe’s Research and Development (MRE) centre in late 2004 with cross-functional team members from design, marketing and engineering. 

The APP team was responsible for the initial planning phase of the Hakaze project. This began with lifestyle and automotive trend research, and included spending time with”normal”consumers in Germany and the UK, to see exactly what kind of lifestyles people lead, and what kind of attitudes these customers have towards their cars. Combined with market data, it became clear that compact SUVs – those able to meet emerging and more active lifestyle trends –will become more popular over the next 10 years.

“Traditional segments in Europe are declining,”said Benno Gaessler, Manager APP who, along with Stefan Meisterfeld, Assistant Manager APP, was responsible for analysis and strategy.”What the team found was that potential customers have emotional needs that are unfulfilled. They would like to drive a coupe, to drive a convertible, to drive a vehicle that is expressive. But these normally come with a very big price tag and expensive running costs. How we can fulfil these needs is what Hakaze is all about.”

The APP team clearly identified an overall concept that would appeal to these kinds of customers. It should be just as agile and fun to drive as a compact hatchback, while offering attributes like open-top driving, a higher seating position, more sporty driving attributes and a modern, upscale design.

“What is unique to this vehicle is that its realization was a tightly-knit, cross-functional effort,” says Jose R.G. Santamaria, Director of APP and Consumer Insights.”We have engineering, planning and design professionals working together as one group. From this point of view, Hakaze is the first of this new and effective process of future development.” 

After identifying the key attributes of the new concept, the APP team turned the plan over to two cross-functional members of the team - a designer and a packaging engineer. Together, they worked to develop a vehicle concept that meets the needs of the target customer mentioned above, while making sure it stayed true to C-segment hatchback values. This robust process at the beginning of development was a major asset to the actual designers of the Mazda Hakaze, when they took over realization of the project at a later stage.