Sep 10, 2015 4:25:50 PM
Spindle grille, floating roof, sharp angles - the beauty of the current RX was that it blended inoffensively into the crowd. This current one, however, blends a lot of different details into one composition and hopes for the best. As much as I'm all for differentiation, this one is trying too hard looks-wise and pitting too much onto an underpowered engine while trying to make every other detail work together.
Oh, Lexus. Where are you going?
rulesdontapply
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2008 Porsche Boxster S PDE2
2012 Porsche Cayenne S [gone but never forgotten]
Well they have a brand image problem. Traditionally it was for pensioners, or old people upgrading from Camry and Avalon, kind of like how Buick was stuck in the old people's crosshair on car shopping. They are trying to put some edge into their styling to boot out the old people and attract the younger generations.
I think Toyota failed miserably.
Whoopsy:Well they have a brand image problem. Traditionally it was for pensioners, or old people upgrading from Camry and Avalon, kind of like how Buick was stuck in the old people's crosshair on car shopping. They are trying to put some edge into their styling to boot out the old people and attract the younger generations.
I think Toyota failed miserably.
Oh, they put a lot of edge into it. The whole front end is nothing but edge. I think maybe they're going to attract space aliens with this design.
Can someone photoshop it to black, so we can see if it looks like Darth Vader.
Japanese car makers have lost their touch regarding design, not that they ever really had one, sorry to say that.
Have you seen the last gen Prius or the new Mirai (hydrogen novelty)? I don't know who would want to be seen in those ugly cars but apparently they have done their market research or am I wrong?
The BMW i3 is another monstrosity I do not get but apparently people love it, especially in the US (in Germany, I barely see it and BMW was really hoping for a breakthrough in the cheaper electric car segment).
Tesla actually achieved something wonderful: They designed a timeless and actually design-less car. The Tesla S is amazingly unspectacular but in a good way because it actually fails to impress in both ways, positive and negative, which is good for such a car in my opinion.
Lexus? Infinity? I never understood how Americans can fall for this marketing trick. Both brands never really succeeded in Europe, simply because everyone knew and realized that we are talking Toyota and Nissan here.
Same goes to Hyundai: Apparently a huge success in the US, you can barely see them in Germany.
I really have a hard time understanding the US market and I am surprised how US car makers are actually doing everything wrong they can do wrong. Take the new Escalade: Yes, I like how it looks. I think this SUV has street presence and it is nice looking for such a huge truck. The interior is a mixed bag though: Some stuff is nice and modern and some other stuff, like certain surface materials, only look cheap. Modern digital speedo (which I love) but some stupid touch buttons which don't even really work well, even if they deliver some sort of tactile feedback. A little advice to Cadillac: Sometimes a little bit less is actually more. Also could someone explain why the touch display of the Escalade has such a weirdly inclined angle? It looks bad and it works bad (angle, not the touch screen). The car, especially in the interior, feels as if different people were working on it with their own different personalities and results. Not good for such (high end?) product. The engine is a treat and fuel consumption was surprisingly low.
Same goes to the new Corvette and Camaro: Nice exterior (really) but the interior, especially the steering wheels, is horrible. Too playful, too much, just not right for these cars. Do US customers really love that crap? I cannot imagine it.
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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet, Porsche Macan Turbo, Ford Mustang GT500 Shelby SVT (2014), Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT (2014)
SciFrog:Not a big fan of Tesla fronts... The rears look ok though. What they need right now is much better interiors to compete in their segment.
Tesla is not perfect or a design masterpiece (talking only Tesla S here) but the cars are kind of unspectacular in any way, negative or positive, which actually is (in my opinion) a good thing for such a car.
RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 991 Carrera 4 GTS Cabriolet, Porsche Macan Turbo, Ford Mustang GT500 Shelby SVT (2014), Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT (2014)
Itsme:Probably still camouflaged, can't be real.
BMW i3: love the design. Would have bought one, but I can't charge the car in my garage nor in my Office. Would be my perfect city commuter
Would be my perfect city commuter too. Don't mind the design at all as it is different. Not pretty, but different. Problem with the i3 for me is resale. BMW offers a lease here where you return the car after the lease (yes I know that is the norm in the U.S. but not here). On that lease BMW residual on the i3 after two years is 34%! Normal cars like say a M135i would be 65%. As a result it's more expensive to lease a i3 then a car that costs much much more.
WAY:SciFrog:Probably because of the depreciation of the battery...
Then why can Tesla offer 50% after 3 years? It's clearly BMW having no confidence in the electric car market.
Tesla has first mover advantage. Their cars are in high demand even in the used market as they have no competition.