Looking at the alum list I can see why. Damn. The 2011-ish coupes are pretty special to be sure (I'd have the wagon though - it's gloriously ridiculous). Anecdotal evidence, but that was when they really had a fire under their butts to improve and it comes through. Unfortunately the Caddy design department seems to have lost its way since 2011 if the bland Escala concept is to be believed. I mean, look at it.
Wow, if you give the Genesis a Hofmeister kink and make the headlights on the Escala street-legal, they're basically the same car. That's disappointing. Of course, I'm not able to afford either. I like drooling over design though - or in this case, being put off by it.
Lexus aside, cause screw anyone else I think they look good, the oversized grill trend needs to DIE. The Genesis concept you keep posting? Looks like ass. The Yaris iA (formerly Scion iA), looks like a mutant fish. Even the Ford Focus and Fiesta, which are on the more conservative end of the spectrum, are still too large. On and on it goes.
Well, I can name more than a few European designers. American? Harley Earl. Japanese? I know that the guy who designed the Juke is the same one that designed the Vehicross. Even the AC Cobra is an overblown British design. Google Image Search "gandini" or "pininfarina" or "italdesign" or "giugiaro." Yeah, sure. Harley Earl. Whatevs.
Lexus current lineup is one of those where they don't look too good in photos, but in person, they look really good. Chevy's current lineup, especially the Impala, Malibu, and the 2nd gen Cruze look really good. In fact, the difference between the first and second gen Cruze are night and day.
Is that an Impala? I drove one of those a few weeks ago. I was favorably impressed. Fuck. Impalas. Cadillacs. I'm turning into an old person. The current crop of Lexus is not Cylon, it's cetacean. They look like that because their diet is mostly krill.
Drove a Mazda 3 for two weeks. It was a fine little car. it just wasn't "fuck yeah I'm spending twenty grand on a Mazda station wagon!" little car. I believe this is the problem the automakers are dealing with from millennials on all sides: "you want HOW MUCH? for THAT?" And if you don't need to drive that much, I mean, shit. $350/mo is a lot of Lyft.