Mazda continues to push to make its vehicles stand out from the crowd. Allowing its designers to have more freedom than most manufacturers to inject life and soul into the vehicles they are creating. It is a philosophy Mazda calls KODO – soul of motion.

At Mazda’s Master Craft event in Los Angeles the similarities between Mazda design clay modelers and artisan bread makers became apparent. Unlike other car companies who only use computers in new vehicle design, Mazda’s modeled-by-hand design using clay is present in every step of the design process. Using clay models rather than computers and mathematics can make a car’s crisp exterior lines seemingly disappear, evoking emotion through its more fluid form instead of being “boxy and boring.” Artisan bakers agreed that “Like clay modeling, we shape every loaf by hand. It’s all about scale, shape and creating an out-of-this-world product.”

Mazda uses more clay than any other manufacturer in its KODO design process. KODO design is about “creating cars that embody the dynamic beauty of life – cars that visually suggest different expressions of this energy”. While the initial digital design model visualizes the fine details and specific materials of a vehicle, it is the sculpting from clay that brings it to life, something Mazda believes is impossible to replicate digitally.

Mazda’s manufacturers face the task of bringing the precision of beautiful design to mass production. From paper to clay to metal and then to teach machines to cut and polish like artists. Production engineers needed to evolve new techniques and materials to bring these designs to reality. Over 12,000 grinding stones were studied and rejected before Mazda developed its own unique KODO stone to precisely sculpt the master metal molds. Mazda prides itself that human touch is ever present. Human hands create the original design, human hands provide the final finish, human eyes do the final inspection.

Who Knew? – Mazda standing out from the crowd using the hands-on approach to try to breathe energy and soul into their vehicles, much like an artisan bread maker sculpts his product. Talking about hands-on, the team at MazdaPartsPeople.com have their hands on just about every genuine Mazda part and accessory you could ever want. Checkout the online catalog at MazdaPartsPeople.com for great discount pricing on genuine Mazda accessories.