Interesting article

[Nanonevol]

From Automobile magazine January 2017

[RMaxfield]

Interesting and very true. Today's cars look all alike and have very little style or personality. I think people are buying now on function rather than styling or looks. Why spend twice the money to get from point a to point b if function is the same and so are the looks? I have 2 daily drivers and they are light years apart. My 2015 Ford Fiesta is an electronic gadget but good for longer drives and hauling people. Looks are good.(Race Red). My 1988 Porsche 924 I love for commutes. Neither cars is a Hyundai, Toyota, Honda, Kia clone. The fiesta maybe close. When I saw the Alfa Romeo 4C lust was back! There is a certain group of people that long for the stylish Italian flair. I am one!!!

[Nanonevol]

Agreed! You might find that "Italian" design now in a Hyundai though as Tom notes in the article that design studios are made up of artists from around the world. It's a shrinking world in many senses.
I like Automobile magazine and their focus on design and appearance, analyzing new models panel by panel.

[azruss]

A few years ago, a young car enthusiast (meaning 20 something) was looking at my spider. He made an off-handed comment that all the cars of that age looked so similar it was hard to tell them apart. I can understand what he was saying. If you look at the basic nature of mid 50s and 60s designs, they all shared many of the same traits. High headlights, lightly sloped windshield, long tails, tucked under rocker panels, exposed wipers, etc. To you and me, we see all the variation clearly. The same is true in reverse for his generation of cars. He sees the details with great clarity where i just see the uniformity. You can make the same argument with every generation of cars.

[DieselSpider]

Many times its not the designers but the wind tunnel and computer modeling software. You can only do so much to alter the shape of the raindrop to change it from a sedan to a hatchback, suv, etc so all cars start to look alike having to fit the aerodynamic envelope. Its the shape of meeting corporate fuel economy averages, Leed scores, etc.

Back in the 50's design was already international with a number of American cars being designed along with the bodies manufactured in Italy by companies like Pininfarina then shipped to the US to be mounted on the GM/Ford/Chrysler chassis, suspension/drivetrain installed, etc.