More on American Car Design
It’s been awhile since my last blog entry (gotta love it when work is so busy you can’t find time to blog) – so I thought I’d get back into things by going back to my most controversial post last year and add an update – on why American cars are so ugly.
At the time I made that post, both Chrysler and GM were filing bankruptcy…and I felt a good part of the reason they’d gotten into the mess they had was due to cars that were, well, just damn ugly. The Pontiac Aztek was a prime example. Since then, GM has killed off Pontiac and Saturn, introduced the Camaro, sales are up, and they are turning back into the company they should be. And, they are producing the cars that not only have the reliability and quality they should have had 10 years ago – they are extremely attractive. The improvement from the last version of the Malibu to the current version – quantum leap!
Chrysler is now controlled by Fiat. And, they haven’t done much in the last year in terms of new product. But the new Jeep Grand Cherokee immediately takes be back 20 years to a time when their SUV was the one to buy.
At the same time, Acura, who has designed cars in the past that to me, were designed along the BMW line of thought, where a clean simple line defined technology, style, and quality – how now moved to a design style of what they define as muscular. I define it as – ugly. And most car reviewers have agreed. It’s not that the car itself is ugly – but every manufacturer tries to create it’s own identity with the front end / grill. BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, and now Chevrolet, all have a very clean, striking, and memorable identity with their grills. Acura’s grills on the TSX and TL remind me of the nose of a manatee.
As a designer, I understand the difficulty of creating a memorable identity, that is also unique and doesn’t seem derivative. Looking at what GM is now doing – I do hope they continue along this path – as to me, it’s the path they should have been on years ago!
