Is Hyundai making the best-looking vehicles for regular people? (Which can be trucks and SUVs and crossovers, etc. Anything outside the most expensive and/or mission-focused performance vehicles out there.) I think it might be Hyundai. Between the current lineup of H-cars and the premium Genesis models, I find the models that most frequently make me say, “that’s a great-looking car” are Hyundai products. But, to be fair, I do often confuse “most looking” with “great-looking.” As in, if it appears the designer designed their balls off (a phrase I like to think designers use), then I tend to like it. Case in point: the Ioniq 6 in the topshot. That car is designed.
Make no mistake, I appreciate cars with a less heavy-handed look as well. I think all of the Tesla models, with one huge stainless-steel exception, are good-looking cars. I wouldn’t call them minimalist, but they are unbusy and nicely proportioned, and look smoothly muscled to me. And also old, sadly. Ain’t broke, don’t fix, I suppose, but I’d love to see Tesla do something new – just not the new thing Tesla actually did. But if you like it, great!
What about the European brands? I have to say, I can’t even picture the latest from, say, Renault, Skoda, and Peugeot. But they may well be the prettiest!
You tell me.
Simple answer: NIO from China. Not a single bad line on any of their cars.
Volvo is doing fine but are getting expensive, Peugeot are in shambles, so is Citroen, Skoda is still ok, but used to be better a few years ago … so I think Dacia is my favorite right now.
I’m not sure I have any great opinions to share, largely agree with the Genesis/Volvo praise. I’d rather answer a question with two more questions:
Why do all new car designs seem to look like angry blobfish? And which brands went furthest downhill?
I think about this every time I see a new Audi, and how far things have slid since the early aughts.
IMHO, none of them. Terrible across the board. Even when the shapes are good, the detailing sucks. Gaping maws everywhere, weird lights, hack and slash body lines galore. Nope, no thanks. Makes me long for the days of the Bangle-mangles.
And the less said about the universal screens, screens, screens, screens, and may I have another screen interiors, the better.
See also: you can have your interior in a wide range of colors, from black to gray to tan to… oh, wait, that’s all.
Forty years ago, I would have recoiled at the green interior of this 1972 Pontiac Grand Prix. Today? Ooh, look, an interior in a color. Member interiors that came in, you know, colors? I member.
https://barnfinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/1972-GP-interior-e1673397719712.jpg
No doubt! That green is a tad much for me, but better than a coal mine black interior. I actually had a Volvo 740 with green velour – it was glorious.
Back in 2011 BMW offered nearly a dozen leather colors on the three series. Of course, 90% of the cars got ordered by the dealers with black, gray, or beige. Sigh. Today they offer only FOUR colors on the three series – plus three variations of black. Sigh, again.
But I ordered mine with Chestnut: https://flic.kr/p/ar53nh To me, the perfect amount of color when combined with the black framing.
Hyundai and Kia have the largest selection of good looking cars. Exteriors are nice but their interiors are especially attractive. Their recent misstep has been with the new Telluride. Not a fan of the LegoLand grill.
Still Volvo.
The V90 Cross Country is one of the most beautiful things on 4 wheels today
Genesis. Hands down.
I want to say Mazda, but it doesn’t feel like they’ve made any substantial changes lately and it’s looking stale.
Anything GM is just too schizophrenic that it waves between “ok” and “ugh”, often on the same car when you open the door to reveal the “ugh”
Yes, Genesis. The G80 sedan is gorgeous!
Global availability I think Hyundai. But Toyota got rid of most of their uglyness recently.
So many decent looking cars coming out of China now. Deepal a Changan brand, various Chery sub brands like icar. BYD sub brands also pulling a lot of weight. Especially denza and fang chang bao.
Tony Hawk?
I have to go with Toyota. They have some genuinely nice vehicles right now. In particular, the 4Runner, Land Cruiser, Tacoma, Supra, and Corolla are all very nice designs. What I’m most impressed by is that Toyota can build nice looking vehicles across so many classes – they are simultaneously building good looking sedans, hatchbacks, SUVs, trucks, and sports cars.
I don’t know who would come in second in this contest, but it would be a distant second.
The Corolla has aged really well considering its an 8 year old design. The Euro Touring wagon especially.
The Supra is one of those cars that can look really good in real life in the right colour. I don’t think it comes out well in photos.
IMO, the 4Runner, Tacoma, and Tundra are overstyled. They tried too hard to make them look aggressive; IMO the Taco went from best looking truck in class to worst. The Tundra has always been sot of homely, also the 4Runner going back to 2003.
I’m a former 4Runner owner, btw, I had a 5th gen for 7 years and was epically disappointed with the gen 6 redesign.
The Land Cruiser looks ok, but the hybrid only drivetrain is kind of a drag, it’s relatively inefficient and the battery has compromised the size of the fuel tank and the cargo area. I’ve heard reports of owners getting less than 300 miles of range with them.
Also going to say Mazda, though the latest tweaks and updates aren’t as well proportioned as the models from a couple of years ago.
Sigh… the Ioniq 6 is hideous, a terrible example for your argument.
First of all, split headlights are a crime against humanity. Second, look at all the black plastic nonsense on the sides and the back. If they’re trying to hide visual bulk, they did it wrong. Remember when cheap cars came with unpainted bumpers? That’s what Hyundai did here, except they made it even worse by making it piano black. On the outside! And they charge $50k for the privilege!
Very valid points about the Ioniq 6. But consider: it has two spoilers. I think that’s pretty cool.
They look like somebody took a blowtorch to the butt and melted it. Blech.
Volvo. Still.
5 years ago it would have been Mazda as well but I don’t like the styling on the CX90, CX50, and new CX5 that much. The 3 sedan is still *chef’s kiss*.
Fords look quite nice if we ignore the Expedition. Can we ignore the Expedition?
Hyundai/Kia subscribe to the “throw shit at the wall, rapid fire, and see what sticks” ethos and I find their styling clumsy and hyperactive with a few successes sprinkled in. It’s ADHD on wheels.
Why do people care so much how cars look? Let form follow function. I wonder what a sedan or suv would be like if the focus were on safety, ergonomics, fuel economy, and performance. What would be the impact on cost. I would be happy with a checker cab form-factor with up to date everything.
Fuel economy and performance means aerodynamics, which means it would look like a Model Y with a real dashboard and HVAC dial panel.
I don’t want to drive a car that looks like a Model Y.
This. Teslas are basically the ideal shape, an excellent compromise between aerodynamics and practicality. And they look dreadfully boring and awkward because of it. The recent facelift on the 3 has improved things a lot for that car, but the Y is unsalvageable, despite its own recent facelift shifting things in the right direction.
The S was a handsome car though, its size (especially width) really suiting the company’s design philosophy like none of its cars have since been able to achieve.
Why do people care-
You lost, buddy? You are commenting on a website written and patronized by many, many people who care quite deeply how cars look.
And I would totally rock a modern-spec Checker for a daily driver. Precisely because I care how cars look, and I always liked how Checkers looked.
I simply don’t understand any of this comment. I also don’t require an explanation, thanks.
Then I won’t bother giving you an explanation.
hmmmm. one answer and one answer only.
Morgan.
For my tastes, it’s Hyundai subsidiary Kia. Provided you like the cyberpunk/Blade Runner ethos (which I do), there’s a fantastic variation-on-theme coherence across their lineup that even Hyundai doesn’t have, and – to my eyes – is executed much cleaner than Hyundai’s general overstyling.
I agree, apart from a couple of unfortunate mingers (EV4 sedan… thing, Tasman ute), Kia’s really knocking it out of the park at the moment.
My problem is this. You can make a great looking car. But if that great looking car is in turn a bad product I no longer see your car as looking as “good” anymore. That is the case for me with Hyundai/Kia. Sure- interesting looking, even thought provoking. But given that all three people I know who own or have owned these brands have and had major issues? Nope. Now to me they just look cheap.
Going back a few years, I always thought the Mitsubishi Diamante was a handsome sedan – just not handsome enough to overcome the plume of blow-by smoke that trailed behind literally every one I ever saw that was more than six years old.
I actually voted against a rare (?) Diamante wagon in the Shitbox Showdown once, despite the fact that I’d never seen one and would ideally love to have something very much like it, simply because my brain instantly said “Diamante = smoke. I don’t want that smoke.” Now. Make that a similar vintage Camry or Accord wagon, and you have my attention.
Mazda for sure, the electric GM cars have grown on me as well as the small chevy SUVs
The Genesis sedans and Range Rover are the best right now imo
We’re on GM EV two. First was a Chevy Volt, the other an Equinox EV. NEITHER have had issues and the Volt went on well past 200,000 miles.
I would have said Mazda ~5 years ago; their current design language peaked back then and the further they’ve evolved it the less I’ve liked it. For example, I think the CX9 looked a lot better than the CX70/CX90. Or the previous gen CX5 looking better than the current CX5. The last really good looking one was/is the CX50.
Genesis for certain.
Mazda too.
I’m also partial to SEATs and Skodas – they have clean styling and are more interesting than VWs.
Renault – particularly the Clio and Twingo.
I was going to say Volvo, but they don’t seem to build actual cars anymore.
Nio: ET7 and ET9
BTD: The Seal, Han, Denza Z9 GT and Yangwang U7 in particular.
For ultra-luxury: Bentley, despite the new headlamps.
Other than the Porsche 911 – the German “luxury” brands are selling garbage designs. I wouldn’t select a new Mercedes, BMW or Audi at all.
I’m also partial to SEATs and Skodas
The idea to turn SEAT into Cupra is still stupid. However, the Cupra models have a consistent and not unattractive design, while SEAT’s design used to be a hit-and-miss scenario. While Leons are usually quite attractive cars, the different iterations of the Toledo look absolutely different from each other with no consistency at all. IMHO, the Toledo III is a strong contender for the title of Ugliest Car Ever – and that’s coming from a SEAT fan.
https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/2000_Seat_Toledo_III_Exclusive_%28Typ_5P%29_%284739851325%29.jpg/960px-2000_Seat_Toledo_III_Exclusive_%28Typ_5P%29_%284739851325%29.jpg
Oh yeah – That Toledo was clearly a low-budget Renault Vel Satis knockoff.
… that had been beaten repeatedly with the ugly stick. 🙂
Polestar, Volvo, Mazda, Genesis are probably the most consistent. Hyundai and Kia have some good designs, but also some big misses at the same time. Most of the German makers have lost their way.
I still think the 2026 Chevrolet Trax LS without the roof rails is a great looking small wagon for $23K
2026 Trax LS
They do look pretty good. GM Korea seems to provide some really cool small vehicle options. And for cheap.
Its Buick stablemate has my eye – I love the sleek hint of sex appeal, almost like Buick is mindful of what it was like as a division back in the early postwar time.
Buick is indeed looking good lately, literally. I just wish that they still looked good in some form of sedan or coupe.
I am so, so, so tired of literally every new car being a something-UV.
Looks great in that picture. Not so much from the rear view where the style goes a bit haywire and cheap-looking.
Until the most recent redesign, I thought the Chevrolet Trax was the most unnecessary vehicle in the entire Chevy lineup. And they went and made it look like something I might actually like to own, and cheap.
Don’t let me interrupt, General. If I do, you’ll start doing General things again, and nobody wants that.
Off the top of my head… Volvo. Mazda. Genesis.
Biased, because we just bought a ’26 4Runner, but I think Toyota actually has some pretty good designs going right now. Also, it’s helped because they actually have some good colors to go with the design. I think the 4Runner, RAV4, Crown Signia, [GR] Corolla hatchback all look like great regular cars.
Conspicuously absent from your list is the BZ. Woof.
The bZ looks MUCH better now that it’s ditched the alt color wheel arches. WTF Toyota…it’s something I’d expect from Hyundai.
Gotta agree with Hyundai. The Santa Fe is a great-looking vehicle, and the Ioniq series is crisply designed without being overly busy.
Kia also has some good-looking cars, particularly the K4, K5, and EV6. The Telluride is tough-looking without making it look like you’re compensating for something.
I guess the Koreans are having a moment. Good for them!
Also worth mentioning is Chrysler. Yes, they only have one vehicle, but that one vehicle is a very graceful minivan. Technically batting 1.000!
Not anymore, they ruined the front end of it.
The Koreans let their designers have fun with every model, instead of forcing every car to conform to a bland brand language. So they’ve got that going for them.
“Telluride is tough-looking without making it look like you’re compensating for something”
I need to vociferously disagree there. The front fascia on the Telluride is one of the worst looking designs I’ve ever seen. Looks made of Legos. The rest is a shameless Range Rover knockoff. To me, it looks like the drivers are indeed compensating for something…their inability to afford a Range Rover.
The front is awful yes. However the rest, despite being a bit Range Roverish, is actually impressive. The reason modern Range Rover minimal design looks so expensive is because they do the Audiesque straight lines with tiny tolerances. Kia and Hyundai pulling it off for mainstream prices is a feat.
They copied someone else’s work rather than pay a design team and the rest of the car is a mainstream appliance, so if they managed to achieve better-than-average panel fitment for mainstream prices I’m not sure it’s an impressive feat.
What’s more impressive to me is that they avoided a lawsuit.
I know the press and surburban moms are fawning all over this thing, but it’s such a blatant attempt to have steak for Big Mac prices that I’d be a bit embarrassed to own one.
Sorry the one picture you posted, and why one picture, is a boring looking like everything else. Frankly your story is a poor car ad from a BHPH lot with one sorry picture