Car design: have cars got much less distinctive?

gaiscioch

At least since Saab did their makeovers about ten years ago I've been thinking that car designs are getting less distinctive. Taking 1985 as a sample date, Saab used to be very distinctive in their day. So, too, did particular Citroën and Renault cars. Compare Saab 1985 with Saab 2011; it was just another sleek, nice car in 2011.

This Citroën BX for instance used to have a suspension where the whole car went down when it stopped. An uncle of mine had one and as kids it always stood out for that. An old teacher had this Renault 4 and that, too, stood out at the time.

Looking at the Hyundai for the past few years and they usually seem at the back especially to be a rip-off of BMW. Once upon a time, this was a Hyundai. A google of Hyundai, BMW, design and it seems Hyundai has poached important BMW designers in the past six years.


Do you think car design is less distinctive nowadays? If so, are there any particular reasons why they are less distinctive?

biko

No.

Why is poll public, are you taking notes what each user thinks?

But yes, modern cars all kinda look the same now. It's sad really.

RandomAccess

No.

They are obsessed with Cars having a corporate face. BMW and Audi are some of the worst offenders for building the same car in different sizes.

Ford have given all their models a guppy mouth which doesn't suit the smaller cars in the range.

Recently Mercedes seem to be striking out alone, building car models that don't borrow so much design from each other. I think this could be because they always had a distinctive grille but who knows.

I wish them well anyway.

CiboC

Modern safety standard have a lot to do with this as well, pedestrian crash protection dictates to a large extend the shape of the front of the car and that is why so many have this flat slab-like front. Gone are the nice sleek pointy bonnets of old.

I think it's hard to tell many modern designs apart from each other if you removed the badges...

RandomAccess

No.

Should add that I'm a fan of the Citroen Cactus.
I've never been in one though.
The modularity that platforms such as VW MQB provides could be used to bring cool cars the Cactus and Scirocco to VWs stable but there's no indication that they want to do anything other than provide a suite of SUVs and Saloons in S,M,L,XL

colm_mcm

No.

Cars are definitely more universal then they were alright.
A lot of the "quirks" you would have seen in decades past were the result of manufacturers being lumbered with legacy parts from previous generations.

The cost of design and production has probably skyrocketed too, so manufacturers are building what they can sell in volume.
2 door coupes, and lately even 3 door hatchbacks are becoming extinct.

Story Bud?

I was thinking this very same thing while driving down the M50 yesterday.

Silver, grey, and black reliable dullness flooded every lane.

I was in Dubai last week, wow what a different story that was. If only we had their VRT and Fuel costs :P

millington

RandomAccess wrote: »

Recently Mercedes seem to be striking out alone, building car models that don't borrow so much design from each other. I think this could be because they always had a distinctive grille but who knows.

I wish them well anyway.

You have to be joking? The whole Mercedes saloon range from C to E to S class is very very similar apart from proportions

CorkMan_

No.

millington wrote: »

You have to be joking? The whole Mercedes saloon range from C to E to S class is very very similar apart from proportions

I was watching a few reviews of the S Class and all said the fact that people couldn't tell it apart from a C or E class was a big drawback. It's the same with Audi, one coming towards me and I would find it hard to tell if it's an A4 ,5, 6 or 8. They all look the same. Actually same could go for BMW, Skoda, Ford, Renault etc. All similar fronts just bigger proportions.

Atlantic Dawn

Perhaps.

The new Prius is rather mad, nothing like it on the road.

CorkMan_

No.

Thank fcuk.

They went the other extreme with that. I've not seen a worse looking car.

Stallingrad

No.

Car look the same for the very same reason you posted here. Majority opinions, Polls, consumer clinics, etc. Ask 100 people what they want and the majority want what they are used to plus 10%. So risk goes out the window and bar a few intriguing exceptions (Citroen) we end up with safe and predictable design that excites none and offends no-one.

geotrig

CorkMan_ wrote: »

I was watching a few reviews of the S Class and all said the fact that people couldn't tell it apart from a C or E class was a big drawback. It's the same with Audi, one coming towards me and I would find it hard to tell if it's an A4 ,5, 6 or 8. They all look the same. Actually same could go for BMW, Skoda, Ford, Renault etc. All similar fronts just bigger proportions.

its ok it was probably an A3 :pac:

bazz26

millington wrote: »

You have to be joking? The whole Mercedes saloon range from C to E to S class is very very similar apart from proportions

Its the Mercedes Russian doll design:

dzwx

spaceships, spaceships everywhere