We don't often talk about new colours being launched at major motor shows, but then a new Mazda colour is often a bit more worth talking about than most others.
Mazda really puts some thought and effort into its paints, in a way that many rival companies don't. For proof, see how the Japanese company's 'Soul Crystal Red' paint option has become the best red this side of Ferrari Rosso Corsa.
So what's the new Mazda colour?
Mazda's latest colour, which will be offered first on the new CX-5 that goes on sale in Ireland imminently, is 'Navy Blue Mica'. So far, so ordinary, you might be thinking, but actually it's anything but.
First off, Mazda takes blue seriously, as it's been the company's official corporate colour since the seventies, and the original CX-5 - which was instrumental in saving Mazda at a difficult time in the company's history - was also offered in a distinctive shade of dark blue.
What makes this new blue so special?
Attention to detail. According to Mazda, Navy Blue Mica "adds vivid saturation in highlights and deep elegance in shadows.” The mica particles in the paint - the metal flake that gives it a metallic sheen - are arranged more carefully and more horizontally than in most other paints, so that, says Mazda, "design details become accentuated in any weather conditions, be it shine or rain.”
Does it work?
Heck yes, look a the photos. That's a richer and deeper blue than we've been used to for some time, and it certainly gives buyers another good reason to avoid default grey or black. Per Mazda: "Under the philosophy that colour is to be a crucial element of what gives form to a vehicle, Mazda will continue to pursue a design that represents lively energy to evolve the 'joy of driving,' thereby generating excitement in users' moving experience and sparking the 'joy of living' in their daily life.”