J Mays, Ford's VP of Design, is not one to mince his words. On stage for the presentation of the new EcoSport SUV at the New Delhi Auto Expo last week (at far right of pic, wearing specs), the Ford designer had advice for volume-selling competitors: aim for a premium look, not fussy.
"I get this feeling that 'premium' doesn't have to scream. 'Premium' can talk quietly," he said. "You get a lot of frenetic design out there - and I'm not criticising Hyundai, it's just a different philosophy - but theirs is just all over the map... really loud and fussy. I don't think that's 'premium' and I also don't think that's sustainable.
"So if we're going to have one foot in front of the other and evolve this brand into a more premium look... then I think we're still going to have to have something that looks good in seven or eight years."
Mays' choice of Hyundai as an example of how not to do it was telling. The Korean brand's products can polarise opinion.
A number of Hyundai designs incorporate cues from the styling of other companies' models, but it's the ix35 that looks to be closest to a Ford rival - the Kuga. It's a resemblance of sorts that pushes Mays' buttons, as he explained to motoring.com.au after we noted that the Hyundai owes something to the Ford's stylists.
"Yeah, it does... and that's one of the reasons that we said... all my old mates that are with me now from Audi... we all know how to do a premium car. We just decided 'F*** that, we don't think that they [Hyundai] can do a premium car, so we're going to start doing premium cars at Ford - and see if they can copy that."
It's a controversial view. Standing alongside the EcoSport on stage while listening to Mays it's easy to see what he's getting at, but not everyone will feel the same. Many pundits are likely to accuse Mays and his global design team for the EcoSport - which incorporated input from Melbourne - of not knowing where to stop. The EcoSport is just as likely to have its detractors as its proponents.
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