Thoughts on design - motorcars

I often wonder how much thought car designers give to the back of cars.

I - like many people - spend a considerable amount of timing driving and thus a considerable amount of time looking at the back end of cars.  I of course glimpse the front of cars as they travel in the opposite direction or at junctions but these are only ever fleeting glances.  But spend an hour or so on a motorway and all you are conscious of is the rear end of vehicles.

I suspect that the design effort is mainly expended on the front of the car.  This is of course logical as we, the customers, will form our view in the main from the front and side elevations. This then leaves the rear as a bit of an afterthought.  It is as if the designer has expended every ounce of energy on the front and side views that by the time he has to consider the boot he is so mentally and physically drained that he can hardly grip his pencil long enough to complete the job.

And are there some hideous rear ends!  Toyota, Renault, Nissan are particular horrors but I think the prize must go to Vauxhall - every one of their vehicles is utterly hideous when viewed from behind.  The front and side views may well be sublime for all I know but, as I have already suggested, I do not see them often enough to form a critical view.  

It is, however, easy to see why the Germans dominate in the car market.  Audi, BMW, VW and Mercedes all have attractive rear ends.  So too do Jaguar and LandRover. Just from the rear view alone I can extrapolate that the rest of the vehicle will probably be pretty good and in the main this is spot on.

So if the designer's can not be bothered to give consideration to the rear of their vehicles that means that we, the customers, need to do it on their behalf by viewing the entire car from all angles before making a purchase. 

All we need now are a few more Alfa Romeo models to grace our roads.  The Italians really do understand rear ends!