Gone are the days when the biggest complaint people had about the Toyota Prius was its unusual styling. Now that Toyota's sold more than one million of the eco-wonders and they're seen everywhere from Kumamoto, Japan to one-stop-sign towns in Kansas, the complaints have become more benign. "It doesn't meet the EPA fuel economy ratings" or "It's too slow" are the most common complaints you'll hear these days.
Don't worry, though. Now we've got the BMW X6 and Honda Accord Crosstour to kick around.
These cars have drawn a lot of heat for their unusual styling. But they highlight a trend we're seeing emerge. Although it's still to early for headlines like "Ugly Is the New Beautiful," the success of these two cars could create a niche of vehicles with overtly efficient styling.
We can thank, or maybe that's blame, Honda for this. Hatchbacks were nothing new when the first-gen Honda Insight hit the market in the late 1990s. But cars that placed efficiency before all else were new, and it caught a lot of people by surprise. We, like just about everyone else, thought, "What is that" the first time we saw the Insight. With its sleek styling, funky wheels and wheel skirts like a 50's custom, the Insight looked like something from space.
The first-gen Prius wasn't much prettier. It seemed the biggest obstacle to the success of hybrids might be their looks. If anyone was going to buy one, it would be in spite of, not because of, their styling. This pushed Honda to build the Civic Hybrid, which looked just like the Civic everyone else was driving. Honda hoped it would boost sales.
It didn't, of course. Turns out people wanted cars that set them apart from their neighbors and made A Statement. "I drive a Prius, hear me make barely audible electrical humming and know I care about the environment!" soon became something of a rallying cry in the progressive automotive community.
Now the stage is set for cars like the X6 and Crosstour. Automakers know consumers are ready to embrace something different not only to save fuel, but to make a statement. Neither offers particularly stellar fuel economy, nor are they hybrids. But they sport distinctive aerodynamic styling. Yet each car elicited the same response as that Insight the first time we saw it: "What is that thing?"
Don't get us wrong. We love aerodynamic designs like the 95-mpg AeroCivic and the Aptera 2e electric car. We hope more companies not only improve the aerodynamics of their cars, but design cars that accentuate those improvements. You may find such cars ugly. But they're also beautiful.
Main photo: BMW.
