Art, as we all know, is subjective. Everyone has his or her own tastes, styles, and preferences. Some people love abstract art; some people hate it. Some people love hyper-realism, and some people don't care for it at all, not even calling it art, merely imitation. That doesn't mean, of course, that it doesn't involve skill. But, for the most part, it seems that when you talk generally about art, almost everyone follows the same river, as it were, in that most people's tastes agree. For example, people love Van Gogh, Renoir, and Jackson Pollock. They're agreed upon as incredible artists and masters, and their work is revolutionary and magnificent.
Updated May 2022: Car trends come and go, but we can always count on manufacturers releasing at least a few hideous cars every decade. That said, the last 10 years have been especially fruitful when it comes to automotive design flops. So, we've updated this list with a few more of the ugliest cars of the last decade.
When it comes to cars, there's a lot of art involved in designing how they look. It takes a discerning eye to craft a beautiful car with a symphony of elegant curves and lines that all flow to initiate a reaction in the people who see it. This art is also subjective, although maybe a bit more polarized than other kinds of art because it's easy to find two people who feel completely opposite about the same car's looks. The fact is, though, that sometimes, there are cars that come along, and they're an exception to the rule because they're universally agreed upon when it comes to looks—universally agreed that they're hideous, ugly, absolutely atrocious-looking. This article is going to take a quick look at 16 of the ugliest cars of the last decade.
15 2016 BMW 5-Series GT
BMW used to create some of the most viciously styled sports cars to roam the streets, but nowadays, things aren't looking up for them - look at the new "controversial" 7-Series for example. Many people BMW faced their downfall in the Bangle-era, but we are to argue that there is one specific model that caused all this calamity, the 5-Series GT. It was misshapen, no proportions were met, it was angular, but fat, and worst of all, it didn't feel like you'd expect any BMW to drive, especially one that's related to something as prestigious as the M5.
14 2023 Tesla Cybertruck
Now, we're not sure if it's appropriate to call the Cybertruck a 2023-year model car, since it has been delayed more times than we can count, but we can't help but wonder if it was Elon Musk or his newborn son, X Æ A-12, who is behind the Cubertruck's design. Performance-wise, this Tesla pick-up truck is no disappointment since it generates around 800 hp and can reach 0-60 in under 3 seconds - but this is all subject to change of course when the final product is released to the public. But even those numbers can't make up for the fact that the Cybertruck looks like a metal doorstopper.
13 2014 Citroën C4 Cactus
Naming cars after animals, as Lamborghini does, is not out of the ordinary, but naming your compact SUV after a prickly green plant is quite brave, and once seeing how the Citroën Cactus looks like, you'll understand why they went with that name. Its lights are too small, it has plastic panels on the outside that look as if a toddler ripped pieces out of a soundproof room and stuck them wherever he seemed fit, and above all else, it was finished in this dazzling, yet mortifying neon green-yellow color.
12 2015 Nissan Juke
This car was all the buzz when it came out due to its styling that pushed the limits of, well, reason and logic. Similar in concept to older SUVs like the Pontiac Aztek, with double layers of lights (why? just why?). This car looks like a cross between a cross-eyed gecko and some kind of chipmunk. The trim options just made it so much worse, with bright colors of all kinds available for you to customize yourself.
11 2016 Toyota Mirai
This car has received a lot of praise for its accomplishments when it comes to emissions and efficiency, for its lack of a carbon footprint compared to most other cars.
In fact, it runs on hydrogen, which is revolutionary and we think, a very important step forward for cars. Alas, why does the future have to look so... ugly? The styling from the back to the front looks like a lumpier, bulkier version of the already strangely styled Prius, which we'll be mentioning further on in this list.
10 2013 Fiat Multipla
This has to be one of the ugliest cars ever designed, and we don't think that's something that can even be considered subjective. I would wager that virtually every person on the face of this planet thinks this Fiat Multipla mini-van is one of the ugliest things they've ever seen, not even just the ugliest car. The car's separation of panels is so strange, and the front end looks like the bill of a giant angry duck—not just any duck either: the ugly duckling. Yikes.
9 2014 Honda Accord Crosstour
The styling on this car, from detail to detail, isn't that bad. It's pretty typical Honda from front to back. It's the hideous proportions that make this car almost impossible to look at.
The backend is so disproportional that it looks like a huge camel-hump-shaped tumor that hangs off the back wheels, and the way the body sits on the wheels makes the car look unbalanced and unsure. It's not a good combo of styling choices, and the end result is really terrible.
8 2013 Porsche Panamera
The Panamera has the exact same problem as the Honda Crosstour back up in the list. It's based on smaller coupe cars (the Carrera and the Accord) but was designed to be more functional, mid-sized, four-wheel drive, hatchback-clad, and practical. While that may be true of the car, what was sacrificed was the styling. This Panamera has got to be one of the ugliest Porsche ever made, right be behind the first-generation Cayenne of course, with absolutely zero regards for proportions.
7 2017 Jeep Cherokee
We really have no idea why Chrysler decided to bastardize the Jeep Cherokee by giving it this body styling in 2017. It's such a shame to the Jeep name on a squint-eyed so-called off-road truck. It's giant, cumbersome, blocky, and oversized in every way—every way except for the stupid lights, which are mere slits set on the weird bill of a front end. The "classic" Jeep grille is still present, but it makes it look so much worse. What a travesty... but luckily the Cherokee had a facelift shortly after, and it was somewhat bearable to look at then.
6 2014 Nissan Murano Cabriolet
Nissan's target audience for the Nissan Murano Cabriolet was supposedly middle-aged, accomplished, and academic women wanting to make a refined statement about their tastes. Unfortunately, it didn't appeal to anybody. It really only makes sense, considering that it looks like some kind of clunky loafer. Nobody wanted to have this car, not because of the name or badging, but because of the way it looked. You just can't take a crossover and chop the roof off. This is what happens.
5 2013 Infiniti QX80
People have always thought these Infinity SUVs look like fat, disproportionate sharks. The grille coming higher than the lights on the front end just gives the car a very derpy look, and the middle point on the car is carried through the entire SUV, which is fine, as it gives the car flow. But the deliberate placement of the lights below that line makes the car look top-heavy and slow. This is definitely one of the ugliest SUVs you could buy.
4 2016 Toyota Pruis
The Prius had always been pretty ugly—there's no denying it. But it was manageably ugly, mostly just blocky and not very unique. But Toyota changed that when they redesigned their iconic hybrid, going all-out unique in recompense. And it's safe to say that they ended up with something very, very unique—too unique, in fact, according to most people's tastes. It hasn't stopped people from buying them to be eco-conscious, but the face of saving the environment should be a bit prettier, don't you think?
3 2012 Lincoln MKT
This car has always been so illogically ugly to us. Every time we see one, we really are just bewildered, absolutely blown away by how a car could ever look this bad and baffled by how someone could've possibly even dreamed of something this ugly.
It really is the stuff of nightmares, with the biggest, loudest, pig-nosed front end to ever grace a car—or, I should say, disgrace a car... but BMW is hot on their tail. It gets worse, too, with the back end flow being lifted up with a jagged hump and tail lights the exact antithesis of the front, skinny and high-set. It's completely unreal how ugly this car is.
2 2019 Fiat 500L
The Fiat 500L looks like someone started melting a bar of soap and, halfway through, decided to call it a car design. They said, "Hey, let's put four googly eyes on this thing and call it a day." Unfortunately, that was the day before production started, so this is what we got: a top-heavy, cumbersome, and frankly massive Fiat crossover sedan thing that has been pretty successful, sadly. It seems like we aren't near the end of seeing this ugly assembly of lumpy squares on our roads.
1 2018 Nissan Cube
Speaking of boxes without corners, this car has to take the cake for the weirdest assembly of kindergarten-level shapes out there. From the name, "Cube," to the shape, square to the wheels with four ninety-degree spokes in the shape of a plus sign, we've got a square. But no, we won't stick with that as the theme. We're going to make the windows rounded. Yeah, basically ovals, so it doesn't look like they match at all. And we'll have the window wrap around to the back seamlessly—but only on one side. And we'll add bumper flares because we don't want it too square. We imagine that's how this car was designed.