Mazda has revealed its new flagship SUV, the CX-80. With it comes a new chapter of design that further elevates the Japanese marque into the kind of premium territory dominated by the likes of Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo. It’s all about purity of form while demonstrating all the characteristics of Mazda’s design philosophy, Kodo.

The first to display the brand’s Kodo design language was the CX-5 SUV in 2010. At the time Mazda’s range was dominated by hatchbacks, saloons and estates as well as the much loved MX-5. The Mazda 3 was its top seller in that year, but recently the CX-5 SUV has topped its sales figures.

Capitalising on the success of the CX-5. Mazda introduced the CX-60, but in the CX-80 it really moves upmarket while also increasing in size with space for up to seven occupants.

Bahram Partaw is lead designer at Mazda Europe and at a preview of the model at the company’s design centre near Frankfurt, he told CDN that the new model exudes a “graceful toughness.” We aren’t sure who came up with that, the design team or the marketing team, but it’s immediately clear that there is an elegance about it that eclipses anything currently being created by rivals like Jaguar or Mercedes-Benz. 

The front features a…