[prakhar1998]

While I don't agree with all the comparisons that you have made. I think you have forgotten to add Honda and Toyota to the pack.

I particularly dislike the blindingly brash chrome treatment that manufacturers are tending towards, especially the Japanese.

I think, the Germans are evolving rather pleasantly.

Compare New Jetta with old, New Passat with old, New 3 Series with old (subjective), New C class with old and the New E with the old and you'll realise the pleasant evolution.

I personally am disliking the way Honda is designing their cars today.
Just too weird for my liking.

I love the design of the last generation City, and the last generation CRV too. Even the Civic is very attractive.

No offence meant, but the new City, CRV and Mobilio just look too weird and seem like a downgrade in the looks department.

Tata I personally believe is evolving rather pleasantly. But Mahindra needs to get back to the drawing board. I believe the XUV was over-designed at places, and could look more contemporary.

Then again, looks are always subjective.

[poloman]

After Punto evo disaster VW Polo is the only classic, clean and well proportionate hatch in the country. I am really worried these days thinking even VW may go for a quirky design when they launch all new Polo in 2 years. I just cant stand quirky and ill proportioned cars.

[ajaypjayaraj]

Ah, finally some one has addressed this.

Whenever I saw one of these below mentioned cars on the street I wondered what was the designer thinking!
New Alto vs old one.
Even the newly delivered car looks as if dented from all sides.

New Safari storme vs old one.
That chrome plated moustache with the pointed swooped back head lamps and some weird treatment on the tail gate.

Dolphin Honda city vs the classy ones before that.
Took a perfectly good looking car and totally ruined it.

New jaw dropped Innova vs older ones.
Just look at all that chrome and the gaping grille.

Zen classic & Zen Estilo vs the original zen.
Zen had a near perfect design. So they just went clueless when it was time to upgrade it I guess.

Design wise THE car that has kept its character from its first generation till the latest one (Globally) would be Porsche. The legendary 911.



There are many other cars which have evolved for the better but what makes Porsche stand apart is, while almost every other car manufacturer deviated towards a new design concept or theme for the newer generations sometime or the other, Porsche has preserved its original character through out the evolution till date. That's something. Designer has to be not just talented but a genius!

[dileepcm]

Mod Note : There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the forum experience for other readers.

Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use spell-checkers.

[rohansachar]

rajushank84, you have correctly said what ultimately everyone is thinking.

I agree on certain cars like Quanto, Xcent(this Hatchback to CS had to stop!), but certain designs IMO were a necessary upgrade in the product life cycle. Like the Swift, Safari, City, Elantra, Sonata, Verna.

[ad3952n]

@ dileepcm

You are correct, for Hyundai the face-lifts have been a blessing in disguise. Prior to the invention of Fludic concept by them in India their cars boasted of a very subdued profile. The Verna, Elantra and Sonata earlier used to look boring but now they have revved up the market and segment like anything.

Old Verna:



New Verna Fluidic



Link: https://www.google.co.in/search?q=ol...px%3B489%3B326

Totally agreed, Honda's Z Type Vtec City was a charmer and after that the only Honda City that had some good looks was the 3rd generation model (2009-2011).

3rd Gen Honda City Ivtec:



The upgrades done after this particular model though had better ground clearance but totally lost out on the appeal of the brand Honda City. The present generation Honda City is not to my liking in terms of looks.

Thanks

[mayankk]

Right now there is nothing south of 10L that can be called good looking.
Hell, a lot of stuff over that as well have faces that probably mothers wouldnt love either!
I am lucky to have owned a Zen for 13 years, which I still feel look classy. Even the fiesta, now a cigarette brand, looks a class act in the parking lots.
The old safari in red, good enough for a second rendition of the song.
Heck,even the tucson has started looking pretty, once acknowledged across the country's roads with a "Ye kya hai???"!

I think a common theme is low on angles, more on razor sharp lines, with abrupt direction changes makes for good daily drive formula, but yeah, go swoopy on things with over 200bhp

In the current crop, the ecosport, liva/etios, brio are good to see in the mirrors.
But the bane of our car designs have to be the dzire/amaze/xcent.
Built with a single purpose in mind. I dont know what it is, but it certainly wasnt "make it a luger, not a rhino."

[saket77]

You have hit the nail right on its head in this thread. The designing has gone a little too overboard in my opinion and there is hardly any hatchback in the country currently except the Polo which has elegance in its design. There is nothing for those who like simple, clean, elegant and classic low slung looks which marked the character of some of the best looking cars especially in the hatchback segment.

Though, the newly found fluidic concept by Hyundai is looking good, but using the same concept on all cars is making it again boring. Plus, I have a feeling that the fluidic design may not be a timeless design.

Honda's latest fascination with chrome is not something many appreciate. The previous gen Honda City was a great looking car. Not that the current one is as hideous as many other newer models by other manufacturers but that grill could have been designed so much better; heck there is no 'grill' there. The older car had a much better grill.

Maruti Suzuki Alto 800, Stingray, Estilo are some of its near past disasters, which had better looking previous generations.

The Europeans, like VW & Skoda have evolved better in the models at least we get to see in India.

Manufacturers had got it right on the first attempt in many cases but later ruined the designs (and dynamics too) in name of tall boy designs/ international / latest tune.

What was this? Take your pick.

Latest generation:


Previous Generation:


Oldest Generation:

[PNTLovesNano]

To this day I bang my head that in what way is the "ZEN" got anything to do with "Estillo"? Seriously, at least I can never say that the Estillo is a version of Zen. Ditto with my Alto and Alto800. In both cases, simply because Suzuki is the owner of the models and it can change and call anything as same, I believe that they are iterations. Design philosophy takes a complete back bench here.

[commonman]

On close observation of this issue ,it seems the vehicle designers had changed the theme to more chinese /japanese style. General motors had not changed much of its design for cars selling in US as its still holding on to American themes.At the same time those cars which are sold in Asia ,lot of unnecessary design change is happening. Also we cannot always point fingers at the design as many cars have been made more secure than the older models.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by commonman

At the same time those cars which are sold in Asia ,lot of unnecessary design change is happening.

May be true. All manufacturers in a vague attempt to showcase new models against the competition every year or so, offer some minor or major modifications to their car. May be many times, that is unnecessary. So may be you can say that a lot of changing of designs are happening for the cars sold in Asia. However, we are still distant from the international offerings of the same cars.

Originally Posted by commonman

Also we cannot always point fingers at the design as many cars have been made more secure than the older models.

Not necessarily, especially when it comes to the entry/ lower segment. The Alto 800, Estilo, Wagon R, i10, Santro...all have hardly improved on safety parameters while they reincarnated.

[rr_zen]

The timing of this thread cannot be more apt. Of late, the designs that are coming out of every brand are not cynosures in the eyes of people. For example, even today the OHC VTEC with its twin exhaust pipes and streamlined body design stands out from the rest of the generations and still looks contemporary. The same goes for the Esteem. It would be an understatement if I were to say that the original Zen was 'murdered' ruthlessly. Maybe, manufacturers are running out of ideas or they possibly think that something radically different should appeal to the average car buyer.

Like someone had rightly mentioned in one of the posts above, whats the fun in creating a Brio, add a boot to it and call it Amaze and now make it taller and bloat it up and call it Mobilio?

[bsdbsd]

A very apt thread. Given the looks of the current crop of cars, looks are not subjective anymore. They are all downright ugly eyesores. We Indians (most of us) revel in ugliness. Look at our cities and traffic patterns. Also, look at all the new buildings. All characterless glass and concrete. Old British buildings have so much of character.

Somehow, everything new is contributing to more ugliness. No more thought is being applied to beauty or classiness. We are also good in using words like 'super', 'extreme','ultra' etc to indicate what something is, when its clearly not. All new apartments are being tagged as super luxury, or ultra super luxury etc.

I couldn't agree with you more on the hideousness of newer cars. Big FAIL by design departments. If Honda can come out with designs like the new Honda City's chrome mustache, it can only serve as an indicator of future things to come.

[arnabchak]

A beautiful thread!!

Some beautiful cars of "golden times" are all lost.

The "THENS"

1) Zen(original) replaced with Go knows what!!
2) The beautiful Baleno. In fact, was MS best car till date.
3) The modest 800. A perfect first car for many
4) PAL 118 NE. Surprised? It looked balanced as a car and the engine was rock solid
5) Peugeot 309. One of the first better designed notch backs
6) Old Skoda Octavia/RS- Timeless, classic, understated
7) Daewoo Cielo. The first executive sedan
8) Esteem. Understated, elegant
9) 1st Gen Swift. New concept yet radical.
10)Ikon. Timeless, classic, beautiful
11)Gypsy Legend. Need I say more?
12)City Type 1/Type 3. Classy.
13)Opel Astra. It failed. But the design was timeless
14)Ford Fiesta Old. Again, a great design. Good they have retained it for the classic
15)Fiat Palio NV/Old Linea

The "NOWS"

1) Dzire- Where the designers sleeping?
2) Quanto- What name and what a "beautiful" car. Quirky and logically illogical
3) Estilo. Thank god, its dead
4) Xylo. Another misfortune
5) Xcent. The egg shaped "disaster"
6) Punto Evo- Ah!! my classic Punto of old vanishes!!
7) Wagon R Stingray-Whats that?
8) Ford Fiesta(old)- They ruined my car!!
9) Honda Amaze
10)New Honda City- Mom, look at my chrome mustache

[rohanjf]

We all know what happens to a car when the whole platform changes (to make it lighter and more fuel-efficient, as well as to improve safety and to conform to ever-tightening safety norms), but not the looks. The best example is Safari. The whole platform is different. How many people actually know that it is a totally different car compared to older Safari?

Drastic changes as well as non-traditional designs also help a product stand out among its competition. Increased visibility leads to increased prospective customers, and that leads to increased sales.