The Mazda MX-5 is a lightweight two-passenger sports car manufactured and marketed by Mazda with a front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout . The convertible is marketed as the Mazda Roadster ( マツダ・ロードスター , Matsuda Rōdosutā ) or Eunos Roadster ( ユーノス・ロードスター , Yūnosu Rōdosutā ) in Japan, and as the Mazda Miata ( / m i ˈ ɑː t ə / ) in the United States, and formerly in Canada, where it is now marketed as the MX-5 but is still commonly referred to as Miata .
Manufactured at Mazda's Hiroshima plant , the MX-5 debuted in 1989 at the Chicago Auto Show and was conceived and executed under a tightly focused design credo, Jinba ittai ( 人馬一体 ) , meaning "oneness of horse and rider". Widely noted for its small, light, technologically modern, dynamically balanced and minimally complex design, the MX-5 has frequently been called a spiritual successor to 1950s and '60s Italian and British roadster sports cars. The Lotus Elan was used as a design benchmark.
Generations were internally designated with a two-letter code, beginning with the first generation, the NA . The second generation ( NB ) launched in 1998 for MY 1999; followed by the third generation ( NC ) in 2005 for MY 2006, and the fourth generation ( ND ) in 2015 for MY 2016.