Why is the 2010 Toyota Prius Still Ugly?

Question

Now, I'm not a marketing professional, but shouldn't a company inventory and poll what consumers like/dislike, and then manufacuture a product that meets their taste, preferences and demands?

I'm all for a Prius, but the design is a MAJOR turn off. Is Toyota blind to this common complaint? Am I the only one with this problem?

Answer 1

The current design is based very much on polls and research. Prius customers love to show the world that they are enviormentally friendly. The appearance sets the car apart from any conventional looking car and therefore is the best seller. If more people wanted them to look like Camrys, I assure you they would.

Answer 2

i love my prius

Answer 3

Bar none. TOYOTA makes the UGLIEST looking vehicles on the entire planet earth! Bubble looking blobs of lineless metal and plastic--shapless, distorted, stumpy, bazarr, squid like, humped, messes of metal on wheels! Oh people buy them because they usually run good..but OMG, are Toyota vehicles UGLY! eeweee...!

Answer 4

Toyota does not make good looking cars. They do not care much about how a car looks.

If you want a good looking Hybrid, go for the Honda Civic or Accord Hybrid, or the Nissan Altima Hybrid, or the Saturn Aura Hybrid.

Answer 5

You have to live with the design like it or not because with the Prius form follows function (just as MPG follows Emissions).  The Prius body shape is due to having as low of a frontal area and drag coefficient as possible to reduce wind resistance at high speeds.  I happen to like the way the current Prius looks myself (beauty in the eye of the beholder and all that).  Also considering they can't crank HV batteries and thus cars out fast enough to keep pace with demand I don't think Toyota is even slightly concerned with the looks of the car affecting sales figures.  The only thing I have against the car is that since Toyota chose to put the GPS navigation ECU/DVD drive under the driver's seat and the audio system power amplifier under the passenger front seat there is no room for the motors and gearboxes required to have power seats as an option.  I think they should have put the NAV and audio stuff elsewhere as lack of a power seat option is a major turn off.