I mentioned it in another post previously, keep a retro themed wagon.... Bring in a bit of Nomad styling and ramp up production! I do like the Suburban idea too.

I also agree, I'm getting tired of seeing the Malibu face on everything. Manufacturers are over-doing the brand "face" way too much. It's going to get back to the point.... like Ford in the late 90's.... where you can get an identical model available in your choice of size; small, medium, and large.

 

It's a people-carrier... there's only so much styling to be done on a mini-van!! It will move around families and be smashed in to by shopping carts. Doesn't need to be pretty.

 

The Orlando I don't think will play well here. Not special enough and it would just blend in. It is more a Euro wagon than anything else.

If you have not see the Granite I think you will be suprised. It is not as long but it is wider and I believe it will have more interior room than the HHR. I expected tall Mini Cooper when I saw photo's and found it to be much larger in person. It is much bigger than the Soul. Think of it more in terms of a Honda Element size.

They are still at work on the doors and I think they will make them work. The key is to make sure they do not make it too heavy. At worse they could do the normal doors.

 

The brand face has been with us for decades and will always be a part of design. They have done it since the 30's on.

 

True, there has been a certain brand "identity" for decades, but you could usually tell the difference between models from a distance away. It's getting more difficult to do so these days with some brands.

Understandably, brands want people to recognize their cars, but they could always be easily identified as "their" cars if the styling was unique; it would just have to be something that stands out from the crowd, not one that blends in. Consider how the 1970 Olds Toronado, Cadillac Eldorado, or Buick Riviera could all be identified as GM's, but often stood apart from the rest of the individual brands designs.

 

Unfortunatly even then they are the exception vs the rule and often are only on limited models.

Just be glad GM does not have th silly grin of a Mazda.

 

Ha! Good point... Everytime I see one of those new Mazdas, I think of the movie Maximum Overdrive with Emilo Estevez. Remember the semi? I wonder if they'll come out with an aftermarket "teeth" kit for the Mazda grille?



For a generic people mover, I would take the sincere styling of the Orlando over the others.

 

Thank God that I am not the only one! I did get the same image with AC DC playing in my head. Not that the music was a problem.

 

So true, some of the manufacturers have come out with some hideous brand styling cues. The Mazda "mouth" is just one of them. Perhaps their designer just thought that the looks of the cars from "Cars" was too cool.

 

I just now noticed this thread.... I saw those at the GM proving grounds in Milford when we went there a few weeks ago! Most of the few I saw had the zebra covering on them though..but there was a white one I saw that looked like this!