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Automotive design is in some kind of dark age. It's not just GM.

by api 11y ago

bonestamp2 11y ago
I'm not sure design is necessarily the problem. Most of the auto manufacturers (even the Korean and Japanese) have design studios in the US and hire the best candidates from the same auto design schools. Concept cars often look fantastic. The problem seems to be somewhere between design and production. Traditionally it's been a problem with cost... unless it's a luxury model, costs are usually cut as deep as possible and that means aesthetic details get marginalized (literally and figuratively) for higher profits. That said, manufacturers seem to be slowly realizing that interior design is important to customers and production interiors have slowly improved over the years. It's hard to cut costs in production these days, everybody wants a great car at every price point.
- api 11y ago
  Perhaps the designers are too far from production and "over design." Production folks then pare their designs down but try to keep some spirit of the design intact, yielding half a kitten which as we know is not half as cute as a whole kitten. I know the same thing happens in architecture and yields a lot of ugly buildings. These buildings look like they are falsely aspiring to be something more... because that is exactly the case.
  - bonestamp2 11y ago
    Yes, at most automakers the designers are literally far from production (and production design/engineering). So I think you're right that is part of the problem. I think the bean counters are the other part of the problem... they obviously don't think they're part of the problem since they're trying to make the company money but sometimes lousy materials and final design makes people look elsewhere.
rsync 11y ago
"Automotive design is in some kind of dark age. It's not just GM." I disagree. In the past few years we have seen several very, very beautiful cars come down the pipeline. In no particular order: - BMW 6-series gran coupe (the four-door) - Maserati Ghibli - Grand Cherokee SRT model ... the cool looking one ... - Current BMW M5 I'm sure I'll think of some more ... The problem is, although these are beautiful cars, they're not electric. So you have this weird choice between a modern car that actually has non-laughable technology in it or a car that looks good and has a nice interior[1], but it's all just lipstick on a pig. [1] Tesla Model S interior is almost as nice as an entry level 3-series/A4/c-class. Almost.

Automotive design is in some kind of dark age. It's not just GM.

by api 11y ago

Automotive design is in some kind of dark age. It's not just GM.

I'm not sure design is necessarily the problem. Most of the auto manufacturers (even the Korean and Japanese) have design studios in the US and hire the best candidates from the same auto design schools. Concept cars often look fantastic. The problem seems to be somewhere between design and production. Traditionally it's been a problem with cost... unless it's a luxury model, costs are usually cut as deep as possible and that means aesthetic details get marginalized (literally and figuratively) for higher profits. That said, manufacturers seem to be slowly realizing that interior design is important to customers and production interiors have slowly improved over the years. It's hard to cut costs in production these days, everybody wants a great car at every price point.

api 11y ago
Perhaps the designers are too far from production and "over design." Production folks then pare their designs down but try to keep some spirit of the design intact, yielding half a kitten which as we know is not half as cute as a whole kitten. I know the same thing happens in architecture and yields a lot of ugly buildings. These buildings look like they are falsely aspiring to be something more... because that is exactly the case.
- bonestamp2 11y ago
  Yes, at most automakers the designers are literally far from production (and production design/engineering). So I think you're right that is part of the problem. I think the bean counters are the other part of the problem... they obviously don't think they're part of the problem since they're trying to make the company money but sometimes lousy materials and final design makes people look elsewhere.

rsync 11y ago

"Automotive design is in some kind of dark age. It's not just GM." I disagree. In the past few years we have seen several very, very beautiful cars come down the pipeline. In no particular order: - BMW 6-series gran coupe (the four-door) - Maserati Ghibli - Grand Cherokee SRT model ... the cool looking one ... - Current BMW M5 I'm sure I'll think of some more ... The problem is, although these are beautiful cars, they're not electric. So you have this weird choice between a modern car that actually has non-laughable technology in it or a car that looks good and has a nice interior[1], but it's all just lipstick on a pig. [1] Tesla Model S interior is almost as nice as an entry level 3-series/A4/c-class. Almost.