I suppose it is always happening. But yesterday I had a link pop up to the new Toyota C-HR. So just for fun I checked it out. Seems to have a very sweeping, low, curvy, lined look. I would say, very much in the same direction as the Gen 4 Prius. Lots of lines. Some would say fluidity. Hyundai, is going to come out with a similarly sized SUV crossover they are calling the Kona. It's styling is in my opinion also very much the same. Lately, in my opinon, Toyota and Hyundai's styling ques look very similar. The thing is, I'm not sure like this direction. For a long time, I thought especially in the sedan segment, vehicles were clone like similar, and pretty boring. An Accord, Looked Like a Camry, Looked Like a Sonata...and on, and on..... At least now, I suppose you could argue this direction is injecting some tin metal personality into vehicles. But they almost look overly produced. I like the New Prius, I think 3/4ths of it looks really sharp. Unfortunately I think the back end, looks like Fire Place Bellows. I don't mind unique styling ques, but I also like cleaner lines. Some of the newest vehicles look like they were first drawn out...then the paper crumpled, then the vehicle built to and those crumple lines included. But it seems to be the direction everyone is going . PS. Wasn't sure where to post this. So Pancakes it was.
there are ch-r threads here. a lot of peeps have said much better looking than gen 4, and why oh why isn't it a hybrid? go figure.
What sets me off is completely superfluous styling, especially when it's at odds with function, or pushing something completely bs, and fragile/expensive to boot Case in point is the latest Civic, with cavernous "ports" at the corners of the front and rear bumpers. They do squat, are actually blank plastic inserts. The "bumper" around them is sculpted, to flow air (erm) into them? Oh, and don't get me started about "bumpers". But yeah, I remember walking the dog, soon after the 4th gen Prius was revealed: someone up our block had a late-model Hyundai, and you could see a lot of cross-pollenizing. I'd say Hyundai did it in a more constrained, harmonious way. The Lexus front grills: I get the sense they're afraid to walk away from this style. It's so outlandish, to abandon it would be to admit it was "emperor's clothes". Just my take. Interiors are similar: choice of materials, colours, textures, the dash sculpture that necessitated nixing the upper glove box, as disclosed with @Danny 's walk-around video interview.
I think Lexus styling, particularly the front end, took a wrong turn a few years ago. Very polarizing! People either hate or love the look.
For me? I often have to see a vehicle in person to REALLY tell. The CH-R from the scant photo's I can find, look's almost too Nissan Juke like.... The Nissan Jukes styling is very polarizing. But I have seen a lot of vehicles that in photo's I have hated, but in person I have liked and vice versa. The newest vehicle that I absolutely love the looks is the Mazda MX 5. Good combination of modern styling with classic roadster lines. Unfortunately, A. I can't afford it. and B. I sat in it at the local Car Show, and it's really uncomfortable to me. But that's newer styling I like. Thank god I didn't like the seats, or I'd be tempted to spend more than I have to get something I don't need.
i wish my '91 looked like that. it was more oblong flying saucerish. agree on the photo's, 2-d doesn't tell the whole story, and color isn't right either.
Hmmmm.... Don't think I've seen this car yet. OK.... So....through the magic of the internet, I'll pop over to the Googles and give you my almost instant, almost live impressions - just to see if my suspicions about Toyota's at-work drug policy are correct..... Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back! (click....click....click....) OK......so I wasn't as horrified as I was with the G4. The rear of the car has this Honda thing going on, and that's an immediate and drastic improvement already. The rest of the car looks like a Mazda trying to impersonate a Highlander on a 3/4 scale. Not too bad at all. If they gave me one as a work car, I'd drive it happily. If it got 60MPG or went from 0-60 in 3 seconds (or.....especially BOTH!!!) then I might buy one.
The C-HR was originally going to be a Scion here, so that might explain how it escaped the typical Toyota styling of today. I do like it, and agree on its Mazda vibe. While the hood, cabin, cargo portions of it are close to the Juke's, the Juke's weird headlights are what make it stand out to me. Hyundai/Kia had a habit of borrowing from previous generation European models, which wasn't a bad thing. Models looking the same has always been a thing. The popular model worries about scaring off customers with too drastic a change, and the competitors are trying to steal some of its sales. The conservative thinking is why dealers only order safe colors and interiors for their inventory. I wanted the brick red interior for my Sonic, but couldn't find one within my time constraints. Stand out styling is easier to find among the lower volume models and brands.
I don't mind a company that has the nads to style boldly, but the latest crop of Yotas just seem like they've been thrown together by a committee who couldn't agree on whether to use curves or facets, and the final rendering was performed by a pacifist who wanted to keep both tribes happy. This is 2017. Automotive design isn't constrained by much of anything except for aerodynamics since, like NASCAR, most of the "body" is just a fairing. The entire car therefore is almost a blank slate that an artist can transform into something that moves body AND soul. Tesla and Apple understand this approach almost too well. So......this SHOULD be a Golden Age for automotive design. Instead??? We get something that looks like a lost tug-of-war between an F117 and something that Ford would make. Interestingly enough I recently was engaged in a gab session with some of the outside techs.....outside...in the next-door little town to mine. I hitched my leg up to rest my foot on the bumper of the little 'Hello Kitty' transit vans that all of the companies are using these days......and I noticed a sticker ON THE BUMPER......OF A WORK TRUCK.....that said......."No Step!" Really? I guess I'm 'officially' starting to get old......
I'm guessing you would really really hate the new Civic Type-R (which I gave serious thought to buying, but then I saw the OMFG dealer markups), which is unbelievably fast around the Nurburgring (for a FWD). The European-ness of a lot of Hyundais/Kias in the past few years is chiefly due to their 2006 poaching of Peter Schreyer from Audi, making him their vehicle design lead. I think you're drastically understating the importance of the outer body structure, which is most definitely not just a fairing. For example, the windshield is considered an integral part of the roof support structure and improper installation can be dangerous. You might consider Akio Toyoda, descendant of Toyota founder Sakichi Toyoda, part of the reason Toyota has moved to more dramatic body styles and a greater emphasis on performance (he has made multiple public statements to that end, e.g. Toyota CEO: Don't call our cars 'boring' anymore). I think most people credit him for the modern 86, which is a nod to the legendary Sprinter Trueno/Hachiroku (another car I'd buy if not for the "Takumi tax").
…mmmm, yes, an apt description! The angles, lines and the spikeyness reminds me of a (much smaller) device seen in my old grandma's kitchen when I was a kid, I think she used it to core apples! Well, as she would say "…it never ceases to amaze me as to what folk would rather have than money!"
The big stand out to me on this front was a late '90s or early 2000s Kia that was close to the iconic Saabs.
