This weekend, I was looking at a Honda Civic HB and threw up a little in my mouth. Soichiro Honda must be rolling in his pagoda. I think Lexus and Honda are the two worst offenders right now.
I think Audi is a little lost right now. Overall, the cars are simple, but they have weird hard edge detailing. They are like a square Lexus. BMW is OK. I think when they took the Bangle out, they sucked the life out of their designs too. They need to find a way to make them fresh and well detailed, not just well detailed.
When I saw the latest MB C class, I was ready to go the dealer. Too bad there is no RWD version in Canada 
AWD is just too innefficient.
I agree with Ditullo’s comments though, everyone was rushing towards many small details and flame surfaces, etc. MB said, ‘let’s step back, sculpt an incredible form and then just hit the details we need to.’ It’s retro in approach, rather than execution. And whenever you zig when others are zagging, it has the potential to put you in the lead.