√Mazda updates one of its most iconic elements for 2023

No, it’s not the rotary engine – rather a new shade of red metallic paint.

Mazda has given its iconic ‘Soul Red Crystal’ paintwork an update for 2023.

It’s called ‘Artisan Red Premium’ and furthers Mazda’s evident quest for high-lustre paintwork.

Currently, the brand’s vibrant and most-popular ‘Soul Red Crystal’ colour – offered on every car it sells, except the BT-50 ute – uses multiple technologies to present its shine.

The first is a three-layer paintwork system with a top clear layer, middle translucent paintwork layer and a third base layer capable of reflecting or absorbing certain reflective light.

The other is a technology that aligns the aluminium particles (the shiny bits) in the paint uniformly as the vehicle is being painted, to both create depth and promote luminosity.

How ‘Artisan Red Premium’ improves on ‘Soul Red Crystal’ is by introducing a new jet-black pigment into the deepest light-absorbing layer, which is claimed to “[produce] a profound depth and richness, rendering high contrast.”

The announcement comes on the 10-year anniversary of the launch of Mazda’s Soul Red Premium – the colour updated to become ‘Soul Red Crystal’ in 2017 upon the launch of the second-generation Mazda CX-5 family SUV.

Since its launch in 2012, the take rate of Mazda’s signature red paintwork across all model lines has been 13.7 per cent.

Interestingly, the fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 (2015-current) has a ‘Soul Red’ take rate of 39 per cent over its whole life – with almost half of the cars sold in the first year finished in red.

Mazda’s CX-5 medium SUV averages approximately 18 per cent, and its smaller CX-3 SUV 21 per cent.

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