The recently launched MX-5 RF has just been awarded the “Red Dot: Best of the Best” prize at the 2017 Red Dot product design awards. The first ever two-seater hardtop retractable fastback from Mazda is the latest rendition of the original soft-top fourth generation MX-5 that also won the same award when it was launched in 2015. The highest honor available from the internationally acclaimed annual competition is bestowed only for truly outstanding and groundbreaking designs. According to organizers, “Best of the Best” winners are the products of design visionaries who managed to achieve a perfect harmony of functional quality, seductiveness, usability and more.
“With the MX-5 RF, Mazda has truly come up with a timeless sports car design that is worthy of praise and admiration,” says Steven Tan, President and CEO of Bermaz Auto Philippines, the exclusive distributors of Mazda vehicles and parts in the country. Tan adds, “The retractable fastback design is unique because not only does it complement the already stunning lines of the KODO – Soul of Motion styling that made the original soft-top a gorgeous sports car, but it also provides an innovative package that efficiently combines a pure open-top driving experience with the practicality, comfort and security of a powered hard-top which many Filipinos have been waiting for in the MX-5.”
The MX-5 RF was unveiled locally in the recently concluded Manila International Auto Show with the first batch of 11 owners taking delivery of their cars on the last day of the event. It features a one-of-a-kind power retractable hardtop that is lightweight and efficient, opening or closing in a remarkable display of Japanese origami in only 13 seconds. Adding coupé practicality to the MX-5’s matchless open top driving fun, the RF deepens the overall experience while remaining true to the Mazda tradition of Jinba Ittai, or “rider and horse as one body”, that has made the MX-5 a legend – and the best-selling roadster in history.
Reserved for products meeting the highest design standards in their given category, the jury of 39 designers, professors and journalists chose only 102 “Best of the Best” winners from more than 5,500 entries received for this year’s contest from 54 countries. Criteria include innovation, functionality, ergonomics, symbolic and emotional content, self-explanatory quality and ecological compatibility.
This is the sixth Red Dot prize to date for the Mazda’ KODO-based current model
generation. The Mazda CX-3 and Mazda2 also won awards in 2015 (alongside the softtop MX-5) after the Mazda3 and Mazda6 took home honors in 2014 and 2013,
respectively.
Initiated in 1955 by the Essen, Germany-based Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, Red Dot is one of the world’s largest product competitions. The winning designs, selected this year in 47 categories including cars & motorcycles, have earned the right to bear the “red dot” symbol, an international seal of excellence. They will be featured at the Red Dot Design Museum Essen for five weeks following the award ceremony as part of the world’s biggest exhibition of contemporary design. Mazda and other winners are to receive their awards at the Aalto Theatre in Essen on 3 July. The Red Dot Design Yearbook to be released the same day will showcase Best of the Best recipients with special portraits of their creators.
Bermaz Auto Philippines, Inc. is the exclusive distributor of Mazda vehicles and parts in the Philippines. Its current product line-up now includes the new CX-3 small crossover, the Mazda2 sub-compact sedan and hatchback, the Mazda3 compact sedan and hatchback, the Mazda6 full-size executive sedan and sports wagon, the all-new CX-5 five-seater and the all-new CX-9 seven-seater premium crossovers, the MX-5 2-seater sports roadster and the BT-50 pickup truck.
Mazda Philippines ranks first in the 2016 J.D. Power Philippines Customer Service Index Study which states that Mazda is among the best in the country when it comes to service quality, service initiation, vehicle pick-up, service facility, and service advisor performance. There are 18 Mazda 3S dealerships located across the Philippines and Metro Manila – Mazda Greenhills, Mazda Pasig, Mazda Quezon Avenue, Mazda North EDSA, Mazda Alabang, Mazda Makati, Mazda Cavite, Mazda Sta. Rosa, Mazda Pulilan, Mazda Pampanga, Mazda Dagupan, Mazda Cabanatuan, Mazda Tarlac, Mazda Negros, Mazda Cebu, Mazda Iloilo, Mazda Cagayan De Oro and Mazda Davao.
For Inquiries, please call Mikko David: +63917 627-6803; mikko.david@mazda.ph
Official Philippine website: www.mazda.ph
