Are New Car Designs Boring?

As time goes on, safety standards continue to evolve. These safety standards are starting to dictate every decision automotive designers make. Does this mean new cars are boring? Are the designers getting lazy?

Personally, I think this question can’t be answered with a simple yes or no. Modern cars are held to a much higher safety standard than cars built as little as 10 years ago. While improving safety standards is great, this means there is far less room for creativity in the design. Pedestrian impacts dictate how the front of the car is designed, and side impacts require a high beltline. These regulations are the reason why the majority of sedans, SUVs, and trucks we see today are so similar.

With all that being said, I believe some of the cars being released are extremely unique. For example, the Ford GT, Lotus Evija, and Lamborghini Veneno are unlike anything else on the road. The Ford GT and Lotus Evija have massive holes in the body to channel the air in a way that previously wasn’t possible (or at least attempted) on cars from several years ago. The Lamborghini has some of the most dramatic and aggressive body lines I’ve ever seen on a car. Automotive designers are pushing the boundaries in automotive design to bend the rules of what we thought wasn’t possible with cars.

These cars mentioned are just a few examples of how manufacturers are still able to come out with cars that are unlike anything else. The downside to all of this? I can’t afford any of these. I believe this is the reason why “all new cars look alike” is a saying. It’s not that they can’t look different, it’s that most of us can’t afford the cars that do look different. This means we default to looking at cars we see as something we can realistically purchase either now, or in our future. When we look at cars at this price point, they start to have a lot of similarities, and I believe this is why people think that modern car designs are boring.