Mazda Shinari Concept to Arrive in Australia via 2011 AIMS

We first got to see what the Zoom Zoom designers have to offer at this year’s Geneva Motor Show in the form of the Mazda Shinari concept. Now it looks like Australians with an eye for beauty will get their turn to taste the Kodo design language (loosely translated "soul of motion"), as the vehicle is coming their way via the 2011 Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne, July 1st to the 10th.

Mazda Australia Managing Director, Doug Dickson is looking forward to the opportunity to showcase SHINARI in front of an Australian audience. “This is a concept that truly captures KODO design and provides an insight into the future direction for Mazda design. It is really exciting to have SHINARI in Australia for the first time and to give the Australian public the opportunity to see this truly stunning vehicle up close and in the metal,” he said.

This vehicle is a turning point in Mazda's existence, as the company's relatively new head of global design turned his back on the Nagare design language that is seen on the new Mazda5. The fact that the Shinari was built as a powerful rear-wheel drive luxury sedan suggests that much of the design features won't make their way into Mazda's front-wheel drive cars and crossovers. The car itself looks like a great starting-point for the next-generation RX-8.

Recent reports indicate that the successor will be called the RX-9 and will be powered by a hybrid rotary engine with tech borrowed from Toyota. It’s still to early to tell, but the model could arrive as early as 2013 sporting a platform borrowed from the smaller MX-5.