Axon's Automotive Anorak: Shedding light on current car design trends

Take the infamous ‘unsafe at any speed’ Chevrolet Corvair, for example. First launched in late 1959 for the 1960 Model Year, the Corvair’s distinctive high-waisted bath tub body shape ‘inspired’ (or was copied by) a host of other car companies within a remarkably short time frame.

The ‘Neuer Klasse’ BMW 1500, Fiat 1300-1500, NSU Prinz II, Hillman Imp, ZAZ 966, plus many other mass-produced saloons of the early 1960s, all clearly mimicked the Chevrolet’s wrap-around high-belted waistline.

Whether GM’s Detroit Styling Studio helped to shape the design of these other cars with its influential Corvair is debatable, but the European vehicle makers were either coincidentally thinking along similar lines, or acted rapidly to ape the Chevrolet’s then-new ‘bath tub’ look.

Driving a few thousand miles around France over recent weeks got me thinking about this, with every new Renault Mégane IV or Talisman that I saw on the roads (which were many!). Both of these recent new Renault models, - launched into the French market earlier this year – come equipped with distinctive ‘J’ hockey stick-shaped front side lights as a bold ‘brand statement’ styling feature. This new ‘family look’ design has now also added to the new Kaleos II SUV model, due to go on sale in 2017.

Within what seemed like minutes of Renault unveiling this unusual styling feature on its new Megane and Talisman at the September 2015 IAA Frankfurt Motor Show, a raft of other car companies have quickly introduced the same (or very similar) design flourish as part of their frontal lighting treatment.

The first of these was the new Samsung SM6, the South Korean-market only version of the Renault Talisman, which was launched early this year. Within Asia this hockey stick lighting seems to have rapidly caught on, now being adopted for the latest Mahindra XUV 500 seven-seater SUV in India, as well as the new Taiwanese Luxgen S5 saloon, range-topping versions of the latest Japan-only Toyota Sienta, as well as the Camry-based Daihatsu Altis mid-size saloon. Honda also previewed J-shaped side lights on its recent Concept D prototype at the last Shanghai Motor Show, which may well appear on its next-generation CR-V crossover.

Hockey stick lighting has also made it across the Pond, adding a distinctive face to the new Cadillac CT6 luxury sedan, plus the Brand’s new XT5 SUV. The US-market Mazda CX-9 SUV also now gains J-shaped front running lamps. It looks like the stylists at Renault might have inadvertedly started a new design trend…