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Mazda poaches designer Kevin Rice back from BMW

Kevin Rice left Mazda a baker's dozen years ago, but now he's back.
A graduate of the Transportation Design program at Coventry University (just across town from Jaguar headquarters), Rice worked his way up in the industry working for the likes of Opel and Italdesign Giugiaro before landing a job at Mazda. Between 1995 and 2000, he collaborated on such projects as the RX-8 and the 1999 Neospace concept that previewed the Mazda2 before moving on to BMW, where the new 3 Series and 4 Series were among the last projects he worked on during his 13-year tenure in Munich.
Now back at Mazda, Rice has been named the Japanese automaker's new creative director, charged with further honing the brand's KODO design language from its European headquarters in Oberursel, Germany. We're looking forward to seeing what he and his design team come up with in the coming years.

30th Anniversary Mazda MX-5 Miata sells out immediately

Remember back in 2014, when Mazda released the 25th Anniversary Mazda MX-5 Miata and it sold out in 10 minutes? Now, just hours ago at the Chicago Auto Show, Mazda opened the books for the 30th Anniversary model — and you guessed right, it's now sold out as well. This time around, it took four hours, but there's a difference: in 2014, there only were 100 25th Anniversary cars to pre-order, and for the big 3-0, Mazda allocated 500 U.S. cars. We're expecting the 2,500 rest-of-the-world cars will also sell out rather quickly. The 25th Anniversary model was Soul Red, but in the lighting seen in the 2014 article it rather reminds us of the "Sunkist" orange of the original NA generation Miata color test car, the orange one out of six one-off special paint cars. This year's model is more clearly orange, a hue Mazda calls "Racing Orange" and says it's inspired by the 1989 Club Racer concept's ... bright yellow. In any case, it's a good match with the ND's swoopy flanks. There is — we mean, was — a choice of regular Roadster from $34,995 and the folding top RF version from $37,995, and a choice of manual or automatic transmission. It took a refundable $500 deposit to secure one of the 500 cars. Chicago Auto Show Mazda

2018 Mazda CX-5 teased ahead of LA reveal

While it will make its full debut at the LA Auto Show, Mazda released a teaser of the new CX-5 ahead of time. Like so many other teasers, the car is obscured by low light, but we can make out some significant details. For one, it appears that Mazda has toned down the muscular curves of the current CX-5's front fenders. In fact, many of the crisp creases of the current model have been softened on this new version. Below you can see a brighter version of the teaser alongside an image of the current model. The greenhouse also appears lower and longer than the current model, and it's highlighted by a chrome strip running from the A-pillar back to the roof. Where it terminates also seems to suggest this CX-5 could have the "floating" roof look that's so popular now. However, when comparing the teaser image with recent spy photos, it could just as easily have a more traditional rear pillar and roof design. Those same spy photos also reveal that the new CX-5 will get a more aggressive, concave grille with a mesh insert. This image is all Mazda has revealed of the new crossover so far, so we'll have to wait until the reveal on November 16 for all the details. Related Video: