Judging from some new cars released by joint venture brands in recent years, independent brands seem to have achieved overtaking in terms of design, and even reaching the level of joint ventures that "copied" domestic products.

Judging from some new cars released by joint venture brands in recent years, independent brands seem to have achieved overtaking in terms of design, and even reaching the level of joint ventures that "copy" domestic products.

In the early stages of development, independent brands still rely on the "counterfeit" route to attract consumers. For example, BYD F3 is the "flat replacement" of Toyota Flower Corolla. The more notorious one is Zotye SR9. Although it has won the title of "Possey Tai", it is hard to say how much jokes and respect it is.

Zotye SR9

It can be said that a good design can indeed "diverge itself". The spindle-type front face of Lexus , the dual screen of Mercedes-Benz and the circular air conditioning outlet have all led the trend. However, the feng shui has changed. Looking at the current auto market, independent brands are becoming more and more praised in terms of appearance and interior creation. Instead, the joint venture car has begun to imitate it.

For example, the new Chevrolet Cruze was just launched recently, but this narrow and long sharp headlights + trapezoidal air intake grille design has long been common among domestic cars. If you cover up the car logo, it is easy to remind people of Chery Arrizo 5 or Geely Emgrand L.

Chevrolet Cruze

Arrizo 5PLUS

Geely Emgrand L

The new generation of Sonata exposed some time ago will no longer continue the family's "catfish mouth" shape. It is expected that a slender through-type light strip will be equipped above the grille, and the overall style will be somewhat convergent. However, when you look closely, many netizens may feel familiar: Xiaopeng also looks like this? How did the new generation of Sonata learn the design of new car-making forces? This phenomenon even spreads to sports car . For Lotus Eletre, there are many people looking forward to this work, but if consumers who are discouraged by the price and only like their cool style, why not take a look at the Dongfeng Fengxing T5 EVO? It is literally "good quality and low price".

LuTes Eletre

Fengxing T5 EVO

In short, the design effects from the main models in recent years are enough to improve consumers' impression of their own brands. As for the appearance of some joint venture models and independent models, they are not naked copying, and it is not convenient to define them as plagiarism. But what is certain is that with the continuous strengthening of independent brand design capabilities, joint venture brands are also constantly analyzing the designs of these competitors to cater to the aesthetics of Chinese consumers. After all, good design is always worth learning from and learning.

In addition, the rise of independent brands in design is also due to the help of foreign designers. For example, the "Longyan" design of BYD was carried out in the former Audi design director Wolfgang Aeger; after Geely acquired Volvo , Volvo design director Peter Hobri was also invited to be responsible for the design of Geely Auto ; Changan once invited Mazda designer Atsuhiko Yamada as the design director; GAC Trumpchi 's "light and shadow sculpture" design concept originated from former Mercedes-Benz designer Zhang Fan...

However, in the final analysis, the emergence of a large number of "face-like" new cars is inseparable from the mainstream aesthetic style of the current market. As young people become the main consumer force and car companies transform to electrification, designers are accustomed to using large screens and dual screens to represent technology and trends, rounded lines represent retro, triangular elements represent youth, and exaggerated center grille represents domineering and radical... Of course, the design of a new car is nothing more than the superposition of these elements, and the freshness that can be presented to consumers is limited.

No matter what, domestic cars have finally achieved results in their investment in independent design. The design of tank and Lynk & Co often amazed the market. Brands such as BYD and Geely have gradually developed mature family design languages, which undoubtedly helps to improve brand recognition and popularity.

In short, it is of course good to grasp the boundaries between plagiarism and reference, and take successful designs in the market for your own use, but the same "beauty" is inevitably aesthetically exhausting. Brother Jiang still wants to see the brand carefully create innovative and eye-catching designs. What do you think about this? Welcome to follow "Cheyu Wuwang" and leave a message in the comment section below to share your views.