- Car designers get so much right, but one thing very wrong
- Opinion piece from journalist Steve Fowler
- Can you live without a rear wiper?
- Why customer feedback counts
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Of all the people who work for car companies, it’s the designers who are the superstars.
Some even believe their own hype, insisting on a team of people to look after them and coming up with the most ludicrous words and phrases to talk about their latest ‘design language’.
They enjoy the trappings of their positions, often overseeing design studios across the world (there’s always one in Southern California, which is strangely popular to spend time in).
I’ve no idea what these people earn, but in so many cases its worth it. Take Professor Gerry McGovern OBE, Chief Creative Officer of JLR – and yes, that is his full title. I’ve spent plenty of enjoyable hours in Gerry’s company, and what he’s done for Land Rover – and soon Jaguar (below) – can be summed up in the enormous sales of the former, and the column-inches dedicated to the latter.
Chief designers (or Creative Officers, or whatever they want to be called) lead huge teams of creatives with the best often trained at our very own Royal College of Art. But it’s usually one person who stands up in front of the likes of me and my media colleagues, talking about proportions, athletic stances and haunches.
Designers must work closely with other teams to make sure what they draw can actually be made. And there are fantastic reports of arguments between the creative folk, eager to protect their lovingly crafted designs, and the engineers who must make sure the car can make it to production on time and on budget. I’d love to be a fly on the wall in those tense discussions, with negotiations over millimetres here and there.
There are trends that designers seem to follow, too, like full-width rear light bars that, apparently, make cars look lower, wider and sportier. And sportier is something of a holy grail.
But just lately, as I’ve been jumping in and out of various new cars – mostly EVs that demand the greatest efficiency when it comes to aerodynamics – there’s one trend that’s absolutely driving me mad… a lack of rear wipers.
Designers may know about aerodynamics and style, but they can conveniently forget about practicalities. Like being able to see out of the back of your car.
Look at many of today’s big-selling hatchbacks – the new Peugeot 3008 (below) or Toyota bZ4x, for example. Great looking cars, but there’s no rear wiper.
Now, the designers claim – laughably – that the car’s aerodynamics keep the rear screen clean and clear. Poppycock. That might be the case when the car’s moving at speed, but on a cold morning when the rear window is either iced or misted, it’s a long wait for the heating elements to do their work and then they leave a dirty mess of drips and dribbles.
In the pouring rain when driving in traffic or around town, the wonderful aerodynamics do absolutely nothing to clear the rear screen. How many times have I tried to twist the wiper stalk to activate a non-existent rear wiper? It drives me potty.
There is an answer to this apparent design madness – customer feedback. I remember scoffing when the (usually) design genius Sangyup Lee of Hyundai told me that the new Ioniq 5 didn’t need a rear wiper because the aerodynamics would keep the rear screen clear. And to be fair to Sangyup, he’s eaten humble pie – the recently revised 5 (below) now gets a rear wiper, all down to customer feedback.
Sure, rear wipers aren’t the prettiest things in the world – although they do look good on the back of old 911s – but they can be cleverly hidden beneath rear spoilers and still do their work.
So, a message to car designers of the world: carry on doing your wonderful work, but don’t forget the rear wiper. Your customers will thank you for it.
** Steve Fowler is one of the UK’s best-known automotive journalists and currently EV Editor of The Independent and a regular contributor to The Guardian. He’s the only person to have edited three of the UK’s biggest car titles – Auto Express, Autocar and What Car? – and has interviewed the biggest names in the car world from Tesla’s Elon Musk to Ford’s Jim Farley. Steve has also presented documentaries for BBC Radio Four and is used as a resident ‘car guru’ on TV and Radio. He’s a World Car of the Year juror and a judge on both Germany’s and India’s Car of the Year Awards. Read more of Steve's work at stevefowler.co.uk.
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