It has been a really weird year for car releases, with new machines in new shapes with offbeat marketing leaning on features that nobody asked for. As I pondered another incredibly quick, perfectly quiet EV, I realized that I have been having an increasing number of head-scratching reactions to new cars over the past few years.
I think cars are getting weirder. Over the decades, we have seen an endless number of weird models, but now we have an incredible density of quirky styling exercises. What's the reason? Many of the features traditional brands used to be known for are being commoditized. They are striking out in new directions while there is time.
There is one brand that typifies this weird moment and that isHyundai.
There is one brand that is typifying this weird moment. The weirder their cars get, the better they look, as the company has been pushing the boundaries of good design for the past decade or so. There are backlit chrome strips that run from the front bumper to the A-pillars. This is a bold statement and it lives on a cheap car in the US.
There's more than that. One of the most evocative and weird looking cars on the road are the Ioniq 5, which took almost all the previous production design language and threw it out the window. The Ioniq 6 arrived. The fact that the five-door Ioniq 5 is bigger than the four-door Ioniq 6 is confusing to begin with, but more significant is the fact thatHyundai took all the 5's fresh design cues and binned them again, creating something that looks like nothing else
It's hard to know where to start when it comes to offbeat examples at Genesis, but the spinning crystal ball shifter on the GV60 is a strong example of WTF design, taking surprise and delight to weird new heights.
Mercedes-Benz makes an SUV that can hop and bounce, but you expect that from a young up-start. It is strange. The GLS SUVs are part of the Active Body Control suspension. The greatest use of the feature was in achieving TikTok immortality.
You don't have to scroll all the way down the Mercedes account to see a picture of the interior. The once-stoic German brand's social media channels are awash with increasingly overwhelming interiors and ornate dashboard designs that will challenge your sense of style as much as they threaten your nightvision. The exercises have been too garish for some, but they have been well received by a new generation of buyers.
Ford's latest feature is likely to be used for social media, but it's more for public hooliganism. You may have heard that the new mustang has an electric handbrake. That is quite odd. While Ford has long-offered Line Lock mode specifically for big, smoky burnouts, anyone who has gone through the process of engaging that knows it is hardly hooligan friendly. It's weird that a brand that's conservative is adding a device to make the slide more difficult for beginners.
What's the biggest talking point of the Hummer? That it is capable of walking sideways. The Rivian R1T has a feature. The side of the cooktop has a slide out. All of the tricks are perfect for thegram.
The new Ford feature is likely to be used on social media.
I could do this all day, but I will end with one last example that is actually three. The company has made no secret that it will soon introduce an off-road, rally-focused Huracan derivatives. If it weren't going to be launching into a strange segment that will include the Purosangue, it would be weird. It's a very weird vehicular combo.
Why do we have this weird thing? Why are brands so focused on drawing in consumers? The electric vehicles are on their way. The entire range of cars will be hybridized by the year 2024, according to the CEO. Lambo's first full EV will debut in the year 2028.
Many brands are making similar pledges with more aggressive timelines for the pivot to battery power The key is this. I have wondered how brands are going to differentiate themselves in an era where exhaust noise is only in digitally rendered echoes, and where accelerative performance is meaningless.
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