New Mazda5 to Bow in Geneva

Mazda Motor Corp. will debut an all-new Mazda5 cross/utility vehicle at the Geneva auto show in March.

Mazda says the new model will be the first to fully implement its “Nagare” design language, which is Japanese for “flow.”

According to Mazda’s former global design chief Laurens van den Acker, who created the concept, Nagare was meant to “suggest where Mazda design will be in 2020.”

In addition to styling changes, the new Mazda5 gets the auto maker’s proprietary “i-stop" start/stop system, which automatically switches off the engine during a complete stop and restarts it in a scant 0.35 seconds when the accelerator is depressed.

Combined with a 2.0L direct-injection gasoline engine mated to a 6-speed manual transmission, the new Mazda5 cuts carbon-dioxide emissions by some 15% compared with the outgoing model, the auto maker says. A 1.8L gas engine also will be available.

Known as the Premacy in Japan, executives have been pleased with the model’s performance in the U.S., although sales remain poor.

In December, Mazda5 deliveries in the U.S. were down 47.8% to 1,622 units, compared with like-2008, according to Ward’s data. For full-year 2009, sales were off 16.0% to 18,488.

New Mazda5 gets the auto maker’s proprietary “i-stop

Nevertheless, Jim O'Sullivan, CEO of Mazda North American Operations, says the Mazda5 has growth potential in the U.S. and has proven especially popular with rental-car companies.

The “space wagon” segment, which the Mazda5 falls under in other regions of the world, “is going to grow here,” he says.

There’s “a good upside opportunity for (the) Mazda5 as it gets more awareness,” he tells Ward’s at the recent North American International Auto Show here.

The new Mazda5 is scheduled to go on sale in Europe this fall. The auto maker has yet to announce when, or if, it will be sold in the U.S.