The 2010 Geneva Motor Show, held early March will naturally show us many interesting vehicles which hopefully will actually be built. Sadly it is often the case that the most alluring showpieces turn out to be concepts never destined for production. One Geneva reveal that is going into production however is the new Mazda 5.

Mazda 5 featuring Nagare design

The Mazda 5 will be the first production model to completely adopt the Japanese firms Nagare (meaning “flow” in Japanese) design language, apparently the design language draws its inspiration from the flows found in nature. Sounds like nonsense to me, what does that even mean: “flows in nature”? All I can see are some wave-like ridges on the side, you don’t need a fancy Japanese word or that. Still, the concept has been present to some degree in other Mazda production vehicles and concept cars and Mazda have largely been making good looking cars lately, Drive really liked the Mazda 3’s styling.

The flows are said to improve aerodynamics as well, which when combined with efficient direct injection engines and Mazda’s“i-stop” idling stop system should result in a package light on fuel. There is a 2.0L petrol model with the afore mentioned features mated to a six speed manual gearbox with optimised gear ratios for efficiency. It’ll probably be boring then, you just know it when the gearbox is tuned for efficiency.

There will be several more powertrain options although a more detailed and complete list hasn’t been set there will be a 1.8L petrol. The 1.8L uses the same transmission, but that’s all we know for now. At the end of the day it’s a minivan, how much is there really to know, it has lots of seats and an engine. That’s all there is to it. Okay it has a smiley face at the front which is cool, but then most Mazda’s do.

Mazda 5 minivan

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