As noted before, car design is, on the whole, in the doldrums currently. Copying is endemic and the 'style' chosen is ugly, inconsistent and childish. The gaping mouth; what a great idea. I did think the most ridiculous car design related thing I'd seen recently was the Audi advert. For a company who once made fairly attractive cars (from a bad start, as the TV advert shows), I cannot believe they wait until now to talk design!
The 'ugly duckling' we are shown at the beginning is certainly that, but the car they triumphantly end with isn't a whole lot better.'Look', they are actually saying, 'our car designers are striving to be as bad as they were decades ago, with less excuse'.
Audi's are all too often these days purchased by the worst drivers on our roads, easily outclassing BMW. They seemed to be to blame for bringing about the popularity of white cars (never good) and then some of the most ridiculous design. But then BMW struck back.
I have just seen an article about the BMW 6 series coupe. It is stunningly horrible. The proportions are OK, but that is about it. From the side, the cabin area looks quite normal but out of place on the body. This has the usual sharp creases and angles with a rounded boot. Doesn't work.
Inside, it is a an attempt at simplicity that has simply missed the point. The air vents are a terrible shape and way too large, the contrasting colour schemes and highlights badly executed. The dials look like they belong on another car, with a different dash and very possibly a much lower price tag. On the door you have what looks like the silver painted grill from a cheap 1980's radio.
All the evidence appears to point to BMW doing some wonderful engineering work, but my advice would be to hire a designer too.
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