Best designs — according to Kelley Blue Book

The eye of the beholder is a strange and wonderful thing — if Kelley Blue Book is anything to go by. The good folks at KBB perform a regular survey, called Brand Watch, that measures consumer perception of exterior and interior designs. The latest results put Honda at the top of the "non-luxury sedan/coupe/hatchback" category for exterior design. Winner of the corresponding luxury segment? BMW.

For interior design, the class of the non-luxury sedan/coupe/hatch pack is Toyota, with Lexus winning the premium spot. Not so eyebrow-raising, but odd that there’s no mention of Volvo in this respect. Still, there does seem to be an element of reassuring predictability when it comes to the sports car/convertible stream: Porsche takes the exterior honors and Audi’s interiors get the nod.

Domestic brands do pretty well, especially trucks. In both fields, consumers liked Chevrolet's products the best. Click here for a full list that also takes SUVs and minivans into account.

—Colin Ryan

Photo: BMW

Comments

[Alan]

Does this mean Chris Bangle is vindicated?

[Chris Franklin]

Under the definition of "Sport Sedan," you may see a picture of a BMW 3 Series (Preferably a 335i or the 8 cylinder M3 with a manual transmission).

But "Pretty?" I don't think the Germans factor "looks" into 4-5 seat, high-speed people movers. The form wouldn't follow the function (And no, the 2 house-cat seats in the backs of 911s don't count as seats)

However, if BMW decided to come out with a "Pretty Series" sedan line up, then they there might be some justification for their vehicles designs to look "Pretty."