Say what you want about Porsche, but not a lot of ugly cars have been allowed to leave their factories. That's what makes the Porsche Panamera so surprising: despite being one of the best-performing sedans in the world, and one of their top-selling models, it's a bit of a fuggo.
Bloated, awkwardly-proportioned, and trying way too hard to look like a 911, the Panamera just isn't ever going to be considered a design classic. You know who else agrees with this? Porsche's own global CEO, Matthias Mueller.
In an interview with Australia's Motoring, Mueller elaborated on the upcoming new Panamera due out in 2016. He said it's due to look "faster" with a more coupe-like roofline than the outgoing car. (It will also be lighter, making use of a new platform that will later underpin the next Bentley Continental.)
Mueller gave an unusually candid assessment of the styling of the Panamera:
"There have been some small mistakes and we will do it better," Mueller promised when asked what we could expect from the next Panamera.
"For example the design could be better." Asked if he was referring to exterior styling, he said "as well as the interior."
Mueller added that designers and engineers have "addressed certain things" with the new car, including making it "more attractive."
Ouch. I mean, you can tell he's kind of trying to be nice about it, but you can also tell that he didn't regard the Panamera's design as its strongest suit. Hopefully, the next one will be a little easier on the eyes. The rest of Porsche's lineup — including even the re-designed Cayenne and all-new Macan, if I dare say so — are all pretty good-looking.
But in the interview, Mueller said he thinks the new Panamera will remain polarizing, but he'd rather people talk about it than ignore it.
"I am sure a lot of people won't like the design of the next generation. And that's fine by me. I would prefer to have cars and products that polarise rather than being just okay. I think that's the worst thing for a product. And the new Panamera I am sure there will still be people that don't like it.
Who wants a boring-looking Porsche, right?