Grilles Come First as Mazda Pushes Personality

As one of the perks of being one of Japan’s smaller car makers, Mazda enjoys the freedom of putting a little personality into the design of its cars. Some have earned cult followings (read: the MX-5 Miata) while others have been panned. But Mazda isn’t about satisfying everyone anyway, according to Seita Kanai, the executive vice president at Mazda in charge of brand development.

“Frankly, some consumers say, ‘I don’t like this grille.’ But with the Mazda brand it doesn’t necessarily have to be the case that 10 out of 10 people all like the design. If two out of 10 people say ‘I really love this,’ then that’s fine by us. Mazda has that kind of unique personality when it comes to design,” said Mr. Kanai in a recent interview with JRT.

The smiley mug of a grille that’s been spread across the front of the Mazda3 sedan and hatchback since a major redesign in 2010 has been roasted dry by many auto critics. In what was otherwise a gushing review of the current Mazda3 last year, the Journal’s car reviewer Dan Neil wrote the car’s “imbecilic grille” makes it look “like a hillbilly on nitrous oxide.”

“I think some consumers say that Mazda expresses too much personality in its car faces,” said Mr. Kanai, a 32-year veteran of Mazda, in response to the naysayers, adding that most do think the grille designs are “cool.”

Grilles are very important to Japan’s fifth biggest auto maker by volume, a defining design feature that plays the dual role of appealing to consumers’ urge to buy a car and having them immediately recognize a car as a Mazda before even noticing the logo. Like other auto makers such as Toyota Motor Corp.’s recent campaign to come up with ever more distinctive grilles as a way to raise brand recognition Mazda is homing in on the car’s front design more than before.