Mercedes Continues The Uglification of their lineup with the new GLA

[rmc523]

2028 Mercedes-Benz GLA Revealed: Entry-Level Luxury Gets A Big Upgrade.

 

 

 

I don't know what they're thinking......

[Dequindre]

It looks so much cheaper than most Mercedes products. 

[akirby]

Take off the emblem and you'd think it was a chevy

[rmc523]

Mercedes products used to be classy looking.  Now they're somehow generic and ugly at the same time.

[The Handler]

6 hours ago, rmc523 said:

Mercedes products used to be classy looking.  Now they're somehow generic and ugly at the same time.

It’s widespread throughout the industry. I don’t get it. Are designers making some kind of egalitarian political statement by doing that?

[Sherminator98]

19 hours ago, The Handler said:

It’s widespread throughout the industry. I don’t get it. Are designers making some kind of egalitarian political statement by doing that?

 

@DeluxeStang Has some comments about that with Art Schools and what they are "teaching"

 

But yes this blocky/simplification of styling is just atrocious-its permeated itself into other things like luxury watches etc.   

[DeluxeStang]

2 hours ago, Sherminator98 said:

 

@DeluxeStang Has some comments about that with Art Schools and what they are "teaching"

 

But yes this blocky/simplification of styling is just atrocious-its permeated itself into other things like luxury watches etc.   

 

On 7/31/2026 at 6:46 AM, rmc523 said:

Mercedes products used to be classy looking.  Now they're somehow generic and ugly at the same time.

 

21 hours ago, The Handler said:

It’s widespread throughout the industry. I don’t get it. Are designers making some kind of egalitarian political statement by doing that?

Yep. So as someone who's toured Art Center in Pasadena looking into going there, that's arguably the central school for car design in the US. The culture isn't great. 

 

Students are essentially taught to be different and weird above all else. I understand the importance of having students develop and strenghten their creative muscles. But the issue is it leads to a lot of designers who just wanna be different for the sake of being different. Rather than being different, but striving to be different in a way that's better. 

 

Pair that with the mental disconnect from reality. Art center is super expensive, as in you're well into the six figures for 8 semesters of tuition alone. Factor in all your expenses, and you're probably gonna be on the hook for well over 200k or even 300k by the time it's all said and done. That was one of the main reasons I didn't go there. 

 

Taking on 300k in student loan debt for a career with a starting salary that was around 60-70 grand at the time, it felt like the kinda loan you'd never get out from under. But because it's so expensive, that means most of the students who attend are daddies money trust fund types. 

 

The kind of people who've never known struggle, and who frankly can't relate to the tastes, needs, or desires of common buyers very well because they haven't lived it, and can't understand it. 

 

So the people who are creating your cars are a bunch of elites who can't relate to you who are taught to be weird and funky above all else. With that sort of education, it starts to make all these weird and strange car designs and features make no sense and seem to lack appeal and use to most of the people buying them. 

[The Handler]

2 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

 

 

Yep. So as someone who's toured Art Center in Pasadena looking into going there, that's arguably the central school for car design in the US. The culture isn't great. 

 

Students are essentially taught to be different and weird above all else. I understand the importance of having students develop and strenghten their creative muscles. But the issue is it leads to a lot of designers who just wanna be different for the sake of being different. Rather than being different, but striving to be different in a way that's better. 

 

Pair that with the mental disconnect from reality. Art center is super expensive, as in you're well into the six figures for 8 semesters of tuition alone. Factor in all your expenses, and you're probably gonna be on the hook for well over 200k or even 300k by the time it's all said and done. That was one of the main reasons I didn't go there. 

 

Taking on 300k in student loan debt for a career with a starting salary that was around 60-70 grand at the time, it felt like the kinda loan you'd never get out from under. But because it's so expensive, that means most of the students who attend are daddies money trust fund types. 

 

The kind of people who've never known struggle, and who frankly can't relate to the tastes, needs, or desires of common buyers very well because they haven't lived it, and can't understand it. 

 

So the people who are creating your cars are a bunch of elites who can't relate to you who are taught to be weird and funky above all else. With that sort of education, it starts to make all these weird and strange car designs and features make no sense and seem to lack appeal and use to most of the people buying them. 

But is it really the students or the people teaching the curriculum that are the problem? 

 

 

 

[DeluxeStang]

3 hours ago, The Handler said:

But is it really the students or the people teaching the curriculum that are the problem? 

 

 

 

Both, the teachers are slightly more at fault because they're meant to be a guiding influence, but it's both. There's a movie called Whiplash, the environment is a lot like that.