Mazda Motor Corporation’s all-new Mazda Roadster (known as MX-5 outside Japan) has been named the 2015-2016 Car of the Year Japan.

The all-new Roadster is the sixth model in Mazda’s new-generation lineup of vehicles that feature the full range of SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY and KODO—Soul of Motion design. This lightweight open-top two-seater front-engine rear-wheel drive sports car is designed for pure Jinba-ittai driving fun.

In redesigning the model, Mazda aimed to further deepen the experience of driving fun and managed to both perfect the driving position and reduce the weight of the car by over 100 kilograms. While ensuring that the model would remain a true driver’s car, Mazda engineers were determined to make the vehicle practical enough for daily use, adopting a weatherproof, easy-to-open-and-close top and ensuring enough space in the luggage compartment for two carry-on-sized bags.


All passenger vehicles with an expected annual sales volume of over 500 units, announced or launched in Japan between October 1, 2014 and October 31, 2015 are eligible for this year’s Car of the Year Japan award. The Roadster follows the Mazda Demio (Mazda2 in the Philippines and way of the world) last year to become the sixth Mazda vehicle to take the Car of the Year award Japan.

In the Philippines, the all-new Mazda MX-5 roadster was recently recognized as the Best Sports Car for 2015 in the Car Of The Year.

“The Mazda MX-5 has always been an iconic figure in automotive history,” says Steven Tan, President and CEO of Mazda Philippines. “It is the epitome of Mazda’s core ethos of providing pure driving pleasure on the road, the amount of design and engineering effort that was put in by Mazda engineers into this latest generation MX-5 is intended to bring back the first MX-5’s calling to deliver joy in driving.”