Tom Matano – one of the creators of the MX-5 – and Jo Stenuit – Design Director of Mazda Motor Europe – talk about what makes Mazda design unique and what differences and similarities they see between the design and designer generations.
What are the biggest challenges and successes when it comes to designing a car?
Tom Matano: “Your initial styling theme has to make it to mass production without losing its essence, passing the meticulous scrutiny associated with the product design and production phase. In my time, we achieved this with the RX-7 FD, Miata NA/NB, MX-6 and Mazda3. The great team of Mazda engineers supported the styling vision and worked with us”.
Jo Stenuit: “The challenge is to design and meet numerous requirements while ensuring that your vision as a car designer is not lost. It works if you focus completely on your goal (in Mazda’s case: Kodo design) and communicate regularly with all stakeholders within the company. Success comes if all the designers and engineers are happy with their contribution and our customers like the car”.
What are the differences and similarities between designers of different generations?
Jo Stenuit: ‘Obviously the two of us designed for a different generation of customers, but in principle the car design remained very similar. We are both passionate about cars and want to create cars that make people excited. Modern cars are much more complex and require a more holistic design approach. A very big change is also the internationalisation of car design. Having a team of Europeans, Russians, Chinese and Indians all together is made possible by a connected world, which also makes it much more competitive than before’.
For Tom Matano, there are differences based on their age groups due to their own experience at different stages of life. “Along with new technologies, there are new materials and evolving production processes that influence the design outcome. Other factors are regulatory changes that influence fundamental changes in architecture, such as safety or fuel consumption regulations that require much greater aerodynamic efficiency and lighter weights. Or the zero-emission/zero-carbon sustainability movements.
What is the main memory when you think back on your career at Mazda?
For Matano, being lucky to be in the right place at the right time and being able to work with the right people. “I have been able to use all my knowledge and life experiences working in the US, Europe and Japan, and working with the best talent worldwide. For example, Mazda designer Ikuo Maeda. He has been a key player during my career and was my protégé in the US when we started to develop our design vision and philosophy in the late 1990s. Ikuo Maeda has become a true world leader in design’.
Jo Stenuit adds: “I was lucky too. Lucky to work for a company that allows you to express yourself and expects you to have your own opinion and your own way of working, that allows you to influence what happens in the Hiroshima headquarters and to be strongly focused. I will always remember my two years in Japan as one of the highlights of my life and work because being immersed in Japanese culture is a truly unique and heart-warming experience’.
