In an effort to poll public opinion on a possible new body type, Mercedes developed the Concept A Sedan, & will be displaying it at Shanghai Auto Show. The idea behind the Concept A, according to Mercedes Chief Design Officer, is that “the time of creases is over”. I really hope he is wrong.
In case you couldn’t tell by the title, i don’t like the way the Concept A looks. It’s as if the designer completed their rendering of the car, then cranked up the blur to tone down styling cues, & suppress any signs of individuality. The front fascia isn’t bad, but that’s only because its emotion is a stark contrast to the rest of the blandness. All parts of the car sort of melt together into a blob of boring. Remember watching movies depicting what “future” cars would look like 100 years from now? Remember how they all looked almost exactly the same with trivial differences? This is how the Concept A makes me feel. It looks like a terrible cross between a Tesla, Lexus and a Mercedes.
The part that worries me the most is that it would probably sell. Recently, it seems as if playing it safe is a tune that a great deal of car buyers are singing these days. It looks “futuristic”, does not ruffle any feathers & even has a Mercedes logo on the front, where do i sign up? It used to be that safety regulations & standards suppressed creativity, now it looks like manufacturers are doing it all on their own.
The Feel Of Fast 