In other words, the general public is stupid about design, we have no idea what we like, we need someone to tell us what should have…. go screw yourself you egomaniac.

Well, so much for the customer always being right. I must say though, the new designs have ruined BMW for me. On the same not, MB is rather boring. Only Audi seems to walking the line and not falling on either side. The big grill isn’t pretty, but compared the poor six series pictured here…..

It won’t matter what the designers think if the consumers don’t buy the vehicles. We’ll have the last laugh, won’t we?

i like the 6 series.

…and yet the “Bangle Butt” has gone away already.

Customers have no input you say? Suuure they don’t.

this guy is a genius. he knows what hes doing. bmw is in good hand

Everyone at BMW supports van Hooydonk and what he’s doing, go figure

Well, as an industrial designer, I know for a fact that the quickest way to doom a project is to keep showing stuff to your marketing/sales department, awaiting feedback from them. Same goes for focus groups. Think about it this way; designers are paid to provide products that will be used in the future. Not today. Not tomorrow. We are trained and educated to keep in touch with trends and to predict where things are likely to go. Heck, we make trends and we also make what people end up liking, even though it might not fit in with the current trends. In 1996, the iMac might have looked ridiculous, and today it is dated. But during the late 90’s, it started an entire design theme.
This guy is not an egomaniac. he’s simply stating a good case and being honest. Granted, I’m not a huge fan of the 7 or 6-series, but that new 3-series looks fantastic.

Regardless of the Bangle Butt, the 7 series sales increased dramatically versus the previous design.

That is a very stupid comment from someone who should know better. The Edsel failed because the customers thought it was ugly. I am sure the designers thought otherwise. The 7 series BMW and now the 5 series BMW are both being modified to better attract the customers who don’t know any better? The only reason the new 3 is easy on the eyes is because it shunned the Bangle look to a great extent!

This guy is a moron and his being the design chief for BMW speaks volumes for the reason the once elegant BMW designs have gone down the gutter.

No they really dont listen to consumers… look at idrive…. they still put that piece of crap in their cars after years of complaints

6ix, you like the new 3-series (as do I, mostly) because it has the least of the new themes, and is in fact pretty close looking to the outgoing E46 3-series. The cars that represent Van Hooeydooey’s comments are the ones most disliked, the 5, 6, z4 and 7 series with their “flame surfacing”, big eyebrow headlamps, and “Bangle Butts”. All of which are lacking on the new 3er. Because of this it’s safe to call their whole design plan to date a failure.

If their designs suck, how come their sales have increased year after year? Something tells me some people are pulling stuff out of their ass…

Jason, I see your point, although I really like the “flame surfacing.” Heck, I’ve even integrated that effect in with some of my product designs. For instance, the latest Wavesport kayaks were inspired by the Z4.
I agree that the latest 3-series is the “safest” of their recent designs.
The public has to be pushed, and many times guided towards the new trends. Clothing is a really good example of this. Heck, in the mid-80’s we PEGGED our jeans! We scoffed when someone would even mention flared legs, but that style has come back, and only because of the fasion designers. They (designers) guide the public to what will be popular.

I don’t know what to think of Idrive though. Maybe in their eyes, it’s great and that’s why they just can’t let go of it. It’s too advanced for the normal consumer, but if it was first offered in, say, a Scion, it might take off. My reasoning being that the Scion goes for a much, much younger crowd. A younger crowd that is tech-savvy and loves gadgets. Older consumers just don’t want to learn anything new for the sake of it being new.

“Twenty team opinions from designers are better than a consumer consensus about what’s best…DesignWorks replaces the need for consumer clinics because they work on futuristic products.”

—I agree with Bush as this attitude is over the top. Its 1 thing to say “we think the feedback from engineers/designers is better than consumer feedback” but to throw the consumer’s opinion completely out the window is equivalent to Top-Down Management-style where the “Boss is always right” – it works within corporations but not in the real world where consumers have a CHOICE. Plus, this “Design Chief” acts like BMW consumers are clueless which is insulting to its own audience – its not like we’re suggesting Focus Groups made up of 3rd-graders but apparently this guy thinks so…

In fact this guy’s saying that YOU have no ability to judge what you would like a car to look or be like in the future because its just too far from the present. I think the point someone else made about the 5 and 7 being re-touched according to consumer tastes/demand prove this Design “Chief” to be both wrong and silly.

All i’ve got to say is all of you who are saying the “consumer” doesn’t like it are obviously of the minority and just haven’t evolved to like it. Most people I know scoffed at the looks of all of the current BMW’s, now however, those same people love the new 5 and 7, and I don’t think I’ve met a person yet that can say that the 6 is ugly.
The thing is, most people resist change because it scares them. Whether your talking about cars or food, or design. most people like what is normal and they are ok with it. Eventually though, you reach a point where design language must change or the product dies. If any of you have ever studied business you would know this.
The only thing constant in the world is change. Change or Die.

You don’t know what you like, you like what you know. In order to know what you like, you have to know everything.

BAMF FTW

ftw?

Well, I play the piano and I draw, so I think more like a designer than a consumer, and so I actually agree for the most part with Mr. van Hooydunk. On the otherhand, since he is in a coporation, he would be really foolish to alienate his customers. It is the balancing act every music band goes through too; the need to express themselves through their music which may be out of touch with their audience, and the need to sell albums. If you forget the latter, you won’t make enough money to do the former either.

Now regarding being left behind if you don’t do anything bold in your design. Just look at Porsche. The basic looks hasn’t changed much, from one model to another (we’ll ignore the Panamerica and the SUV for now.) In fact, it’s because the design hasn’t changed much, that the look already has become a classic look that won’t ever go out of style; Much like a business suit; Porsche is all business when it comes to driving; or look at the Yankees Uniform that hasn’t changed at all.

We can contrast this to BMW; I know my 6er is gonna look awkward and old and all BMWs now will look awkward and old, and I’ll get the same feeling of disdain that I get like while looking at people in 70’s disco fashion.

Finally, I still think the best looking cars are made by the Italians; they just have an understated boldness and a charming flair to them, a combination that I wish others designers would emulate.

Va l’Italia!!!!

FTW = For The Win

ah. gracias!

The iDrive is simple, if you dont understand it then you dont deserve a BMW

6ix, yeah toyota wishes youngens bought their cars, but its all old people going with the xA and xB

I pity the drivetrain engineers.To enrobe their work in those(Hooydonk/Bangle) shells.

How odd for a statement like that from Hooydonk.Completely out of touch.

Why did you remove the ‘Braun toaster” climate control dials?Everything you touch,hey?

What he means is that they have to be the trendsetters. Today they are designing cars for 5-10 years from now, so if they design them with today’s consumer in mind, the design will not evolve. I think it is pretty simple and straighforward. I agree with him 100%. He is an artist who doesn’t give a damn about the business side of things – that’s what business execs are for.

If he ditches the X5 and X3 I’ll be happy. The rest of the bimmer line-up is boring but innocuous enough.

1) the designs are not futuristic, they are lame and boring…the front of the z4 looks like a walrus, the 7 series overstuffed and fat, the 5 series is slabsided letdown, the 6 is way overweight looking like it has a case of eye boogers…what ever happened to litheness? elegance? yawn, true artistry in car design is not being a arrogant snob, it is making something creative and commercial

2) sales went up, yes…to who? not core bmw drivers, no those are gone…they now have metrosexuals, hoochie club mammas, and 20 year old cheeseballs who pop their collars and got their bmw’s bought by dad…

3) flame surfacing is marketing drivel…flames are not obtuse, period

4)idrive is stupid, i can figure it out and it is a gimmick that looks like it would be a dream of some mid 80’s japanese auto exec for their new touring car…

oh and ..
5) the “bangle butt” is a copy off the audi avus showcar, please, bangle apologists, stop saying EVERY new car that comes out has that back…they don’t

The sales of the 7 series jumped initially, but then dropped dramatically after the first two years. Hence the conservative midlife update.

Give BMW a few more years and see what happens. They just built one of the best cars in the world (335i coupe)

Actually, i will have to agree with Hong Kong Hooeydonk’s comment. Draped across the context of the 7 series rear deck, it may lose it’s creditbility, I understand. However, I work with folks in the homebuilding business. Customers do not know design. The seriously just know what they want to buy. If you let your customers drive your design, you wind up with the proverbial camel, which of course is the horse designed by committee. A pontiac Aztek could very well have been a customer driven design. It’s not to say there isn’t a place to solicit market/customer feedback, but it needs to be solicited in a very controlled manner.

everyone, and I mean everyone likes to think of themselves as a junior designer. Leave design to the professionals. Use your wallet to show support.

Dont listen to costumers…. i’ll take money somewhere else.

Many new cars have styling elements from the new bmw cars. You just have to look.

and bmw copied the accord, the s60, and the cirrus

BMW cars came out of the blue(from airplane engines),developed into quirky cars,eventually hit their high water mark with the ‘flying brick’,turned a corner with the ‘92 model 3,and now they have entered oblivion due to weird and strange people(Hooey and Bang)holding the rudder.Pick another German marque.

Piablo,interior home design is analygous to the drivetrain of a car.The exteriors of the BMW cars are the problem.Who would buy a house if the exterior looked like it needed
Botox?