New design chief at Mazda...

Ikuo Maeda

As part of a major personnel reshuffle in Hiroshima, Mazda has appointed Ikuo Maeda as the company's new design chief.

Maeda, who was responsible for the design of Mazda's two biggest hits, the RX-8 and latest Mazda 2/Demio, is one of the lead designers in the talented team in Hiroshima, and a strong choice to oversee the look of the Mazda's next generation cars and concepts.

Maeda replaces Laurens van den Acker (below), the man with the colourful designs and even louder footwear... He has overseen Mazda design since April 2006 through the Nagare wind-inspired concept series, but is now rumoured to be on his way to Europe and Renault.....

The new Mazda 3 launches to the media in Australia today...