Small packages, big ideas: 80 years of compact Mazda cars

The Japanese are no strangers to small spaces. The compact house concept fashionable today around the world has long been a reality in the country’s densely populated metropoles, where living space comes at a premium. This has fuelled a culture of efficient furnishings and uncluttered simplicity.

Since day one, Mazda’s designers and engineers have applied the principles of Japanese minimalism, which celebrates aesthetics, well-being and comfort, to vehicles including the Mazda Familia and Mazda 323. And they continue to do so today, perhaps more than ever, with the Mazda2 and Mazda3. As the traditional backbone of its model line-up, compacts and subcompacts have always been a big deal for Mazda.

Its first-ever passenger car prototype was a subcompact sedan presented in 1940. Featuring generously proportioned windows and a spacious interior, it was designed to deliver the comfort of a larger class of vehicle. Although the Second World War prevented production, imaginative small car design had taken a foothold at the Hiroshima-based company and would become a central pillar of its product DNA, alongside unique powertrain concepts and a dedication to the love of driving.

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