Mazda's Kiyora urban compact concept will be shown for the first time at the upcoming Paris auto show.
Kiyora means "clean and pure" in Japanese and Mazda says the concept is intended to "represent the harmony between driving pleasure and environmental and safety features".
The designers were asked to imagine a city car cutting cleanly through an urban landscape with water as the design theme, using the aerodynamic performance of the stunning Nagare design study as a guide.
The Kiyora has a four-cylinder, direct-injection petrol engine with an idle stop system and is built on a new platform designed "to maximise weight reduction and a high level of safety, in pursuit of enhanced driving pleasure".
Mazda says the interior design and functions "are aimed at a youthful lifestyle".
Also making their world debuts at the Paris show will be a face-lifted MX-5,(expect to see it in South Afrca in 2009), a Mazda 6 with a 2.2-litre turbodiesel engine and a Mazda 2 with a 1.6-litre diesel (neither confirmed for SA yet).