HIROSHIMA, Japan - Mazda Motor Corporation has applied its proprietary painting technology Takuminuri^*1 to develop a new special color Artisan Red Premium. This color will be introduced as a premium highlight for vehicles in our current lineups as well as forthcoming releases in our Large Product group.

Mazda believes color to be a crucial element of what gives form to a vehicle; thus, we are focusing our efforts on developing colors that accentuate a dynamic and delicate expression in line with the Kodo – Soul of Motion – design theme. Artisan Red Premium, the fourth Takuminuri color, was developed to extend the range of how the world views red, one of the colors symbolizing Mazda, as a culmination of the Takuminuri evolution to mark the 10th year since the first color Soul Red Premium was released.

Artisan Red Premium conveys the connotation of a red color created by skilled artisans. This extraordinary red produced by Mazda designers, engineers and other artisans manifests a mature outlook that is more refined and sophisticated than previous special colors. The concept underlying design was to create the red found in a mature wine made with unsurpassed craftsmanship. Artisan Red Premium accentuates the strength and beauty of form that takes shape as highlights hit by light portray a fine-grained transparent red shining brightly and dominant shade produces a profound depth and richness, rendering high contrast.

Also, similar to Soul Red Crystal^*2, Artisan Red Premium is comprised of three layers: a clear layer, translucent paint layer, and a reflective/absorptive layer. It combines an outstanding aesthetic appearance with a reduced environmental footprint. For the translucent paint layer, a high-chroma pigment is employed that people perceive to be the reddest of reds, a pigment also used for the Soul Red Crystal. For the reflective/absorptive layer, we applied a technology that more smoothly aligns aluminum flakes at regular intervals. This was also leveraged for the third Takuminuri color Rhodium White Premium. In addition, we improved on the jet-black pigment, which renders shade in the second color Machine Gray. This combination of technologies developed over a period of 10 years conveys brightness in highlights produced by strong reflection and the richness of shades created as light is soundly absorbed so as to achieve a balance between transparency and a mature profoundness.

In the belief that "color is an element of form," Mazda will continue to pursue new color expressions and painting technologies to enhance the attractiveness of our products, aiming to be a company that shares a special bond with its customers.

• *1 Takuminuri, which translates as “Artisan coloring,” is Mazda’s painting technology that reproduces a precise, high-quality paint finish as if applied by the hands of a skilled craftsman along the automobile mass production line.
• *2 Soul Red Crystal is a further refinement of Soul Red Premium and a special paint color developed with the Takuminuri painting technology.