The Japanese automaker is no stranger to lightweight vehicle construction, with the MX-5 model being the perfect example to demonstrate this. The company has used the little roadster as a starting point for the MX-0 concept, the automaker's entry in the competition.
"Starting with the MX-5 as a benchmark, the design team has carried out a systematic process of reduction and consolidation. In this process, we have redesigned each component in the MX-0 to carry out the functions of several MX-5 components, effectively replacing a multitude of MX-5 parts with fewer, simplified ones. Innovative lightweight materials have been used extensively to obsessively lower weigh," explains the press release.
The company brags that the MX-0 is in fact a hardcore driving machine and that the lightweight body is powered by high-torque electric motors. Thus the car promises to offer pure driving sensation through an astonishing power-to-weight ratio.
Mazda sees the car as a product for the global market of 2020, with a projected volume of 500,000 units per year.
"The MX-0 would have positive effects on the world’s environment and economy by way of less energy consumption and minimized use of raw materials. High-volume, automated manufacturing of sustainable, inexpensive composites coupled with clean-running drive trains are the key to both low weight and high-volume production," a company release reads.
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