The all-new Mazda3 has captured the “Red Dot: Best of the Best” prize at the 2019 Red Dot product design awards.

The competition’s highest accolade is awarded to products whose designs are considered genuinely ground-breaking and visionary. The new-generation compact joins the growing list of award-winning Mazda models designed according to the Kodo: Soul of Motion philosophy.

Expressing Japanese aesthetics in a simple, single form, the designers of the new Mazda3 eliminated character lines so that the body panels reflect the surroundings. The less-is-more approach applies throughout the car. Components like the head and tail-lamps, for example, feature a clean style free of all unnecessary elements.

“Beauty though subtraction is the key principle behind the Mazda3’s design,” explains Yasutake Tsuchida, chief designer of the new model. “But it’s more than just minimalism. Coming up with such a pure design requires much effort and refinement through trial and error. And it’s something we believe can only be created by the human hands of our expert clay modelers.”

The international jury selected fewer than 100 products for the “Best of the Best” prize from the more than 5,500 entries received from 55 countries. Criteria for selection include innovation, functionality, ergonomics, and longevity.

This is the seventh Red Dot prize to date for Mazda’s Kodo models following the MX-5 RF in 2017, the MX-5 soft top, CX-3 and Mazda2 (all 2015), the previous generation Mazda3 (2014), and the Mazda6 (2013).

Initiated in 1955, Red Dot is one of the world’s largest design competitions. The product design winners, selected this year in 48 categories including cars & motorcycles, have earned the right to bear the Red Dot symbol, an international seal of excellence.