Automakers spend lots of time and money designing, redesigning and test marketing their new vehicles to make certain they'll capture a potential buyer's imagination. It doesn't always work. We asked you just days ago if new cars were getting uglier and there was no real consensus, but one look at this list of the top ten ugliest new cars sold in the United States may tip the scales in favor of uglier. Hit the jump to see them all and make sure to vote in the poll so we can determine which one's truly ugliest. Don't see an undeserving car? Add it to the list.
10. 2009 Honda Pilot
We like the 2009 Honda Pilot, we really do. If seven-passenger SUVs were our thing, the Pilot would be at the top of our list. The only thing holding us back would the be styling, which manages to be both boring and ugly at the same time, making it ugling... or borgly. Depending on the viewing angle you're either unimpressed with it or terrified.
9. 2009 Acura TL
The 2009 Acura TL doesn't go on sale for a few months and we already don't like those looks. Successive generations of Acuras are getting worse, reminding us a time when their cars actually had names (Legend, Integra) and actually had style. The TL is a Transformer frozen forever in a transformation from an attractive sedan to a particularly unattractive cheese grater.
8. 2008 Chevy Uplander
We wouldn't blame you if you didn't know that Chevy still made minivans since, given how awful their Uplander looks, the company seems to be keeping it a pretty good secret. It's all in the face. maybe it's the influence of Cars, but we tend to see cars as faces and the Uplander looks like a fat guy who realized he just swallowed a stapler. It's so awful looking that, in the press shots, they suggest alternative transportation. We'll take a 1991 Silhouette instead.
7. 2009 Nissan Murano
The 2009 Nissan Murano was designed with the intention of capturing a "modern art" feel. What they ended up with was a design that's the kind of modern art that gives ammunition to legislators trying to cut funding for the National Endowment of the Arts. An otherwise shapely profile is destroyed by loafer-shaped headlights surrounding a grille that looks like the angry smile of poorly rendered alien villain.
6. 2009 Toyota Venza
Instead of just making a Camry wagon, which is what the world really needs, Toyota decided to make the Venza crossover. We think someone actually drew a Camry wagon and then someone came along with a huge ball of silly putty and stretched it until it was no longer recognizable.
5. 2008 Jeep Compass Rallye
The Jeep Compass was apparently designed to appeal to women, which may explain why it looks like a fetus. From the huge grille to the almost comically mismatched panels, it's one of the few cars that looks like a Chinese knock-off of itself.
4. 2008 Subaru Impreza Sedan
The design of the 2008 WRX STI hatch isn't our favorite, but it manages to capture the rally heritage and weird-aru look of most Subies. The base model Impreza, on the other hand, is purposeless and wimpy. It's as if you suddenly took all the body armor off of a knight — you're basically left with a hairy naked Prussian dude.
3. 2008 Chrysler Sebring Convertible
Creating a hardtop convertible version of a four-door car requires making tough decisions, in the case of the Chrysler Sebring we were sort of hoping they'd be able to diminish the features that made the sedan so unappealing. Not so much. Somehow the hood strakes seem deeper, the headlights more misshapen and the profile more hunchbacked on the drop-top version.
2. 2008 Toyota Prius
We don't mind cars that combine form and function, but the entire purpose of the Toyota Prius' sheet metal seems to prove the driver has such a strong commitment to the environment they'll be seen in something so awkward looking. The body is designed to reduce drag and increase efficiency, which is great, but the Tatra T87 has the same basic shape and a sub-.024 cD without looking an appliance. Here are some ladies of the booth in front of one so yo don't have to avert your eyes.
1. 2009 Ford Focus
As much as we loved the original Ford Focus when it debuted, and as often as we pine for the Euro Focus, the US focus has gotten perpetually worse in the looks department. That was in 2008. For 2009 Ford Focus randomly added curves, lines, bulges and spoilers until we wished the once becoming Focus would soon be going.
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