I think a small part of it may be that design is intertwined with culture, and right now a lot of today’s mainstream culture isn’t about quality or substance, but rather standing out and being noticed… reality TV, our politicians, music, etc. today all follows this trend. People buy things that stand out, whether they look good or not. Toyota (and other manufacturers), in particular are all looking on how to make their cars look different and doing so in different ways.