Styling cost no more or little more to make a good looking car vs bad looking. . The fact is they put on what the majority wants and that is what you get if you like it or not.
Number of choices now that is what cost money. That is why power windows and other options were made standard. Settlmire pointed out the F body got power windows standard as it was cheaper to build them all that way.
Wrong.
The beancounters decide, not the majority.
They are the source of the bland, as beancounters are not creative.
In a world with too many manufacturers, this is a losing approach.
It is a slow death instead of a quick one, but a death just the same.
Fewer platforms and more bodystyles is the way to go.
Only the manufacturers who stand out by offering more variety will advance.
I have to agree with what you have stated here. The manufactures who can standardize on 2-3 platforms at most and create style that meets global government regulations and yet still give a style for the local market will be the one to win.
The storm is brewing on the horizon and not all car makers will survive. There is still way to much production capacity, way to many makers trying to survive by making millions of lemmings (auto's) and not enough consumption that can support this over building. The world economy is going to be painful especially in the socialist counteries that have thrown out their current gov for new ones that promise to keep spending. Implosion is coming to the European Union. Those that can change with the times will survive.
My crystal ball tell's me we need to move to CNG as a logical step towards all electric auto's. With CNG you can still have long cruising distances, reliant on our own gas as the 2nd largest Natural gas supplies in the world and this will give them time to figure out how to get the battery packs to go 300-400 miles on a charge and how to quick charge the battery pack so people can take long road trips. The VOLT is great, but again that is still a baby step with us needing oil from over seas.