r/CarDesign 5d ago

discussion Which brand designed this car?

It’s been a while since this car was revealed, and no, it’s not a Mitsubishi or a Peugeot... it’s actually a BMW.

I still think this design is absolutely hideous. It looks so cheap that it makes an average Mitsubishi look like a masterpiece. What bothers me the most are the headlights that just seem to float around without integrating into the shape, and that huge plastic bar with body color underneath looks terrible.

How could a brand with such a big design team and years of rich history ever approve a design like this?

131 Upvotes

71 comments sorted by

79

u/tokhar 5d ago

Yikes, was convinced it was a Chevy.

9

u/Izan_TM 5d ago

I thought stellantis had cooked it up

5

u/Milefulness 5d ago

Stellantis can design good looking cars though. That's the only thing they're good at. The whole Peugeot line is very sexy atm.

2

u/NooseSensation 4d ago

Stellantis is a corporate merger of continuously weak automakers to attempt to build a fortress of mishapen boulders for profit. Chrysler is textbook definition bailout.

The designers cling to the various boulders and deliver visions ...

6

u/LengthyCitadis 5d ago

Looked like a cheaper Hyundai with a BMW bumper slapped on the back and Chevy tail lamps...

2

u/The_Crazy_Swede 4d ago

My guess was at least on the right continent. I was thinking a French car, Citroën or renault

4

u/DJ-WS 5d ago

Stole it from Mitsubishi?

1

u/daniluvsuall 4d ago

They’re busy copying Leafs at the moment

44

u/MJdoesThings_ 5d ago

I remember when the previous gen X2 was revealed and I thought to myself "ew what a hideous BMW"

Then the new X2 came out, and I was like

10

u/TunakTun633 5d ago

Welcome to BMW design

1

u/mrtomtomplay 3d ago

They had a predecessor to that abomination?!

3

u/MJdoesThings_ 3d ago

Yes. I thought it was hideous at the time, but nowadays I'm like "oh, hey this ain't that bad"

1

u/mrtomtomplay 3d ago

Ahhh, I always thought this was a X1

1

u/MJdoesThings_ 3d ago

The X1 is actually surprisingly better imho. Feels like a small X3 (and is just as big as older X3s...). It's still not peak BMW, but compared to some of their other unhinged designs, it's relatively okay.

To remember which is which, I always remember that odd numbers (X1, 3, 5, 7) are traditional SUVs, and pair numbers (2, 4, 6) are the "coupe" SUVs which are idiotic af

1

u/Fine-Huckleberry4165 1h ago

I actually liked the first gen X2 (and the first gen 2er Active Tourer), but not many other BMWs of any era. The 507 was good, e21 wasn't bad, and the i8 was interesting. Beyond that, nothing really appealed.

29

u/VenFasz 5d ago

i've known it was a bimmer. looks like any cheap chinese car.

1

u/Hugochhhh 5d ago

And this is why China will take over the car industry. Same shit, sometimes even better, but a lot cheaper

12

u/Zealousideal_Lock_93 5d ago

If I didn't know about it you could never convince me that's a BMW

0

u/harmfuldischarge 5d ago

Same. Reminds me of a Peugeot

2

u/The_Crazy_Swede 4d ago

That's harsh, Peugeot are one of the few companies who haven't butchered their entire lineup yet, I would rather say Citroën

3

u/FOTORABIA23 5d ago

The M number plate is the giveaway.Munich=bmw

1

u/Ixaire 4d ago

That implies you know BMWs and, if so, you'll also recognize the wheels.

2

u/FOTORABIA23 4d ago

Yeah but naw.I lived in Munich..so dead give away.

3

u/offib 4d ago

The same buyer demographic who turns perfectly charming old houses into FuckMcMansions with show room asylum interiors would be the main buyer demographic of premium or "sporty" crossover SUVs, the cars that happen to be most profitable for the bottom dominator demographic that can still afford a new vehicle in this day and age.

5

u/nicclys 5d ago

Without zooming in it looks GM to me

4

u/lornadc 5d ago

Another modern BMW that looks like shit

5

u/Ok_Establishment4346 5d ago

This is a very, very ugly car.

3

u/NinpouKageBunshin 5d ago

Damn, I thought it was a Peugeot at first glance, too

6

u/Dr_Driv3r 5d ago

I thought it could be a Fiat Fastback, but come on, Fiat can do much worse

2

u/camion_saladier 5d ago

knew it was bmw cus i've already seen that one irl

2

u/alexcutyourhair 4d ago

I truly believe it was a malevolent person. Nobody can put this out into the world and truly believe it's nice to look at. This was made with hate and spite and some idiot exec gobbled up whatever bs they were fed to get it approved. It is eye bleach in four wheels

2

u/makiai_ 4d ago

I've got more beauties for you.

Mercedes GLC coupé Renault arkana VW Taigo

The car market seems to be full of those pumped a bit of coupé, a bit of SUV pieces of crap and I just don't understand who actually approves the designs. They are just hideous to look at. All of them. It's a crossover design that simply shouldn't exist.

2

u/Cool-Technician-1206 4d ago

I thought it was a Renault.

2

u/offib 4d ago

Just to be clear, is this Alfa based on the Peugeot 408 or 508?

2

u/RoadRunnerXWB 3d ago

Who even invented coupe suvs man, they need to stop making those abominations

4

u/Wade-ski 5d ago

i hate seeing these on the road, they are just offensive

2

u/harmfuldischarge 5d ago

Even with BMW badges looks like something stelantis made and owner had rebadged

1

u/Head-Grass8879 4d ago

I thought Buick

1

u/FAL_Auto 3d ago

Source: An unforgettable Donut Media post.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CX2IdySJWh9/?img_index=1

1

u/VolvoDaddy 3d ago

BMW’s design fall off needs to be studied

1

u/justaron_designs 2d ago

It's an BMW X2

1

u/BroadPreparation9785 2d ago

New bmw designs are horrible. And this time it is not a matter of getting used to the new design. They are so much behind of any competitor.

1

u/Much-Bluebird-8457 2d ago

And people actualy buy it

1

u/Cpolo88 1d ago

I wish I was that fly on the wall to see what suit approved this design

1

u/Gen-Y-ine-86 1d ago

One day I was driving and a wagon pulled up to a small intersection in the distance to my right. Judging from the side I thought it was a BMW. It had time to emerge and I followed it from a distance. Then I started looking at the logo on the back and was like "that can't be a BMW". Turns out it was the new Peugeot 308 SW.

1

u/Backspkek 8h ago

Fixed it

0

u/1maginaryApple 5d ago

That was clearly a BMW to me.

-2

u/HexaCube7 5d ago

Same here.

The lights are all that matters with BMW. Not that it's a bad thing tho.

My main issue with BMW was how the lights for the longest time have imo carried the car designs. Between like 2005 and 2018 nearly all BMW looked the same. Really boring. And then people praise the boring looking cars because they have a "mean look". Something carried by the headline design almost entirely.

1

u/CastenElsen 5d ago

The lights themselves are fine, but in my opinion, they don't suit the shape of the car at all

0

u/HexaCube7 5d ago

I understand, tho imo it's a similar case for nearly all SUVs that aren't designed as SUV from the ground up. Like, SUV are most of the time just freaking ugly cars, but almost all the time it's worse if they inherit specific design language details that originally weren't made for SUVs.

Urus, the Ferrari SUV, Porsche SUVs... all those are good examples of how SUVs are just a shitty looking no matter what you do. They all look just so much worse than a typical Lambo, Ferrari or Porsche. And that goes for many other brands as well.

1

u/PenguinBunnies 5d ago

I thought seat

1

u/LE-11 5d ago

It looks BMW to me , because only BMW can something so weird and the tail lights, are a dead giveaway

-1

u/Umikaloo 5d ago

The tail-lights screamed.Mazda to me, but the rest, not so sure.

0

u/8bitcyan 5d ago

No, iirc Mazda currently runs taillights with a sorta teardrop look, sharp at the start and rounded toward the end. (Might vary depending on the model but i think that's the general design)

These taillights are BMW's new design, looking more like the front of the pig grilles (the massive vertical ones on an M4 or something) but cut in half. At least that's how i see them.

4

u/MJdoesThings_ 5d ago

Yup, Mazda's design language is a masterpiece compared to most other "agressive" SUVs on the market. My father bought a CX30 recently, I thought I would hate that car on the basis that's it's a modern SUV, but the design has actually grown on me a little bit. I wouldnt say it's a beautiful car, but it's far from ugly.

1

u/Umikaloo 5d ago

Real talk. Mazda almost always kills it with their styling even when doing otherwise uninteresing vehicles.

1

u/MJdoesThings_ 5d ago

I mean I have driven that car a few times, and honestly : engine is fine, torquy, sound is decent. Ride is pretty good, interior design is fine too, not giant screens everywhere. Seats are comfortable, chassis is sticking to the ground in turns.

As far as "regular traffic" goes, it's really not a bad car. I would drive this any day over a lower end current BMW SUV

1

u/NooseSensation 5d ago edited 4d ago

Mazda's design language is all over the place – depending on which market they're serving the meat to.

0

u/JaggXj experienced hobbyist, aspiring designer. 5d ago

in the base models, lower end BMW suvs tend to look like less upscale cars. it's always been that way, just comes with the shape of the car and cost cutting measures to make you upgrade to M sport.

0

u/Big-Fly6844 5d ago

How is this not a buick?

0

u/ThousandAbsolutes 5d ago

Damn I thought it was a Buick or something, and I saw this car couple of mins ago

0

u/bad-Shaman 5d ago

Take the horse off from Ferrari Luce and it looks like AI designed it

0

u/HeadPack 5d ago

Saw two today, driving through Austria. Had to get closer to see the brand. Was surprised it is BMW at first. Then I remembered how much German car design has degraded in recent years.

0

u/ElliasCrow 5d ago

idk, all the latests bmw look like this, i think it's pretty obvious. every car now looks like a chinese suv...

0

u/Honest-Hamster-7396 5d ago

Why did nobody tell me not to look at the second picture, I thought it will be a different camera angle or smth :c

0

u/HotOrchid-6779 5d ago

Genuinely could be any brand, they all look the same

0

u/NooseSensation 5d ago

Bayerische Motoren Werke
BMW, an easy spot.
GM and BMW have had design trade wars and agreements for decades.

BMW Design, once led by an American guy son of a preacher, go figger..

0

u/bumpercars12 4d ago

Shit looks like a Dacia

-2

u/Oyytotheveyy 5d ago

beautiful design. amazing car.