3 ms·

I'm no fan of the design, but BMW has considered their "kidney grille" to be an iconic design element since 1933. https://www.bmw.com/en/design/the-bmw-kidney-g

by wzdd 6y ago

I'm no fan of the design, but BMW has considered their "kidney grille" to be an iconic design element since 1933. https://www.bmw.com/en/design/the-bmw-kidney-grille-through-time.html https://www.bmw.com/en/design/the-bmw-kidney-grille-through-... In general, sentences of the form "(I heard from (?P<authority figure>.* ) that )?(?P<bogeyman of the year>.* ) is (?P<influencing us in unseen ways>.* )" should be treated with a great deal of suspicion. (Extra whitespace insertion to bypass HN formatting)

chrisseaton 6y ago
I think they're objecting to the increasing size, not the design element entirely.
- wzdd 6y ago
  It's fine to object to the increasing size, but the comment claimed that a BMW designer said that the big grilles are because Chinese customers want the driver in front "to feel intimidated, as if the car and driver behind wanted to eat them". Without a source, this comes across as racist. So far I haven't been able to find such a source. The closest I've found is a quote from the lead designer saying that in Europe people want to blend in, but in the rest of the world they want to stand out, and the design follows that. The China connection seems to be extrapolation by journalists and bloggers (because cars with big grilles are popular in China), and the bit about intimidation seems to be fabricated entirely.
Retric 6y ago
Look through that list, many of those kidney grills are modest deign elements with several of them including separate grills for air intakes. The silly giant kidney grills that most people agree look stupid are really an aberration. Their US market share peaked in 2014 and their total sales peaked in 2015. I am not going to say their a declining brand, but their 2019 market share is only up to 2010 levels.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]

3 ms·

I'm no fan of the design, but BMW has considered their "kidney grille" to be an iconic design element since 1933. https://www.bmw.com/en/design/the-bmw-kidney-g

by wzdd 6y ago

chrisseaton 6y ago
I think they're objecting to the increasing size, not the design element entirely.
- wzdd 6y ago
  It's fine to object to the increasing size, but the comment claimed that a BMW designer said that the big grilles are because Chinese customers want the driver in front "to feel intimidated, as if the car and driver behind wanted to eat them". Without a source, this comes across as racist. So far I haven't been able to find such a source. The closest I've found is a quote from the lead designer saying that in Europe people want to blend in, but in the rest of the world they want to stand out, and the design follows that. The China connection seems to be extrapolation by journalists and bloggers (because cars with big grilles are popular in China), and the bit about intimidation seems to be fabricated entirely.
Retric 6y ago
Look through that list, many of those kidney grills are modest deign elements with several of them including separate grills for air intakes. The silly giant kidney grills that most people agree look stupid are really an aberration. Their US market share peaked in 2014 and their total sales peaked in 2015. I am not going to say their a declining brand, but their 2019 market share is only up to 2010 levels.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]