Trends come in waves, even across eras.
In the automotive world, many manufacturers usually copy each other or dare to be extremely different – both scenarios can result in annoying trends that irritate consumers and journalists alike.
Here are some of the trends AutoExpert team would like to leave in 2024…
William Stopford: From the start I couldn’t get the price right
Look, it’s a free market. Companies have every right to lower prices, and it makes good business sense to lower prices when demand doesn’t meet expectations.
However, we’ve now seen so many brands – especially in the electric vehicle space – drop prices significantly after the launch of a new vehicle or, worse, announce multiple price cuts.
The end result of this is that your early adopters, who may be loyal to the brand, feel like suckers because subsequent buyers get a tasty discount while resale value takes a hit.
Make sure the prices are right to begin with, automakers. For example, if you plan to launch a new electric car and price it higher than a Tesla Model Y, stop and strongly consider whether buyers think it is worth the premium before announcing prices (and then price cuts announces).
Jordan Mulach: Provisional drivers with stupidly loud exhausts
This is a tough one. I wouldn’t call annoying vehicle safety systems a trend, but some brands have gone overboard by trying to meet various foreign standards, making for a frustrating driving experience.
However, if I had to pick one trend I’d like to see go away, I’d say P-platers are putting annoyingly loud exhausts on cars with no performance data to back it up.
I get it – you can’t buy a V8 or anything exciting, but that doesn’t mean we all have to suffer as you drive by in your straight-pipe Commodore. Just stop it.
See also: booming tunes on four-cylinder cars.
Marton Pettendy: Overexuberant driving aids
These are supposed to improve safety, but many of them do the exact opposite.
Especially in some Chinese models, some lane keeping and centering functions are so poorly calibrated that driving becomes a chore for experienced drivers, and downright scary for those who lack self-confidence.
I understand the requirements and benefits of such systems in new cars, and if done right, I know how much safer and easier they can make driving. And I understand that if they are installed in a car it should be enabled by default.
I also appreciate the fact that some car manufacturers, such as GWM, actually invest significant resources to correct poorly calibrated systems in real Australian conditions.
But we have to draw the line at poorly calibrated lane-keeping systems making driving more dangerous, and point to the increasing number of carmakers treating Aussies like beta prototype-testing guinea pigs before exporting their wares to more profitable markets.
And don’t even get me started on the annoying attention monitoring systems that bing and bong incessantly every time you look sideways in the mirror, leading to the kind of distractions they’re supposed to minimize.
Jack Quick: full-width light bars
I can’t tell you how sick I am of seeing new car after new car equipped with the same full-width LED light bar front and rear. A few years ago it looked so cool, but now it looks downright derivative.
Sure, there are some models that add some drama to the unlocking and locking animations, but ultimately there’s only so much you can do.
I would like to see car manufacturers, especially emerging Chinese ones, venture out and explore new creative designs in the lighting field because copying each other doesn’t move the game forward.
Josh Nevett: Unsafe safety systems
I’m probably asking too much here, but the evolution of safety systems in modern cars is entering dangerous territory – literally.
Road safety has always been one of the most important issues facing the automotive industry. After all, it’s a matter of life and death, and you only have to look at Australia’s ever-rising road toll to see that there’s more work to be done now than ever.
But encouraging the rollout of half-baked advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) is not the solution. Rating bodies have done just that, and it’s new car buyers who are suffering.
Numerous cars I reviewed this year are equipped with driver monitoring systems that only distract you, while road sign recognition remains a technology that is notoriously flawed.
If done right, these systems have the potential to make our roads safer. But evaluators shouldn’t view ADAS as a series of boxes to be checked or exceeded – it’s more nuanced than that.
Just because a car has all the safety features doesn’t mean they are effective. Motorists are fed up with unwanted beeps and bongs, and I hope that both manufacturers and safety agencies will try to tackle this problem by 2025.
Max Davies: touchscreen and haptics-only interior
This has to be one of the most common complaints with new cars, and to dust off a cliché I’ll say they really need to make things the way they used to.
The only reason I say that is because I’ve never heard anyone say, “Wow, I really love that all my basic functions can only be accessed by pressing three vague touchscreen shortcuts first!” Of course this is done to save manufacturers money, but come on.
Not all brands are guilty of this, so it would be unfair to generalize. Those guilty are known perpetrators, and in virtually every case it just makes things unnecessarily cumbersome – not to mention potentially dangerous.
We’re always told – rightly – not to use our phones while driving, but in many new cars the time it takes to find the touchscreen button that opens the climate control menu is surprisingly similar to unlocking your phone and searching for a specific app that is not on your home screen.
In both cases, it’s the time you spend with your eyes away from the road ahead. Physical buttons are good because they’re things you can touch and feel, meaning their location gets transferred into muscle memory much faster.
Then there are haptic controls, which are just plain annoying. Sure, they have special places and are often decorated with notches and bumps for easy locating, but they are very unsatisfactory to use and can often be inconsistent.
Not to mention placing them on glossy black plastic or glass will leave them covered in fingerprints and smudges, which just looks gross. Less minimalism, less cost savings and more usability… please.
Paul Maric: Piano Black
I say this every year…every month it almost feels like. But piano black is done.
I don’t know if any car designers have ever had a car with piano black interior for more than ten minutes.
If they had, they would realize that it almost always has stains and scratches on it. It’s so bizarre that they insist on using it these days.
Please, make it end.
James Wong: Aversion to change
Automakers and consumers must stop resisting progress and progress. I don’t care if people are afraid of AdBlue, don’t see the value of mild hybrids, or think electric is the only way.
Climate change and the drying up of fossil fuels are an issue that affects everyone, and we need a measured and progressive approach to emissions reduction for all Australians, not the privileged few who can afford it.
With the Federal Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) coming into effect from January 1, 2025, and punitive measures coming into effect on July 1, 2025, Australian lawmakers have finally come to the table with some form of framework that will hopefully get us moving . in the same direction as other developed markets around the world.
Still, we could go faster. Cleaner fuel, timely implementation of Euro 6 emissions standards (we’re still at Euro 5 from over a decade ago) and better consumer education on new powertrain technologies will all play a role in keeping Australia abreast of the rest. of the world.
