Globe Drive

Pity the poor car designer.

Oh, yes, it's tougher than you might think to create a decent-looking car. And it's even tougher to design something appealing that is also functional, affordable and safe. There is also the small matter of finishing the job on time and on budget, too.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves.

In truth, this story begins with the laws of physics and how car designers battle with how to make cars faster, lighter and more energy-efficient – while managing costs. For car designers, the laws of physics are often in conflict not only with aesthetic and marketing considerations, but also economic reality and the regulatory straightjacket that dictates safety, fuel economy and emissions requirements.

The point is, developing a new car is so expensive and so fraught with pressures, it's surprising anything attractive and interesting ever rolls off an assembly line anywhere in the developed world. The temptation for car companies is to play it safe.

After all, it can cost up to $1-billion to develop a new model. Launch a car to a tepid reception with buyers and any car company has problem: Deliver a massive flop like, say, the Pontiac Aztek of a decade ago, and it is an utter disaster.

“The investment required is so huge that manufacturers panic, which makes them very defensive when it comes to design,” says one automotive designer, asking not to be named for obvious reasons.

“If they see one group of consumers over here who like a particular style of car and another group over there who prefer a different style, they'll try to aim the new model somewhere in the middle. If you design a car – or anything else, come to think of it – with the hope of not offending anyone, how interesting will it be? Not very.”

And yet, at this year's Canadian International Auto Show – the Toronto auto show – there are family cars and small, affordable cars that do have daring designs.

Moreover, they are fuel efficient, practical and affordable, and they meet all the latest safety, fuel economy and emissions standards.

The 2012 Ford Focus compact being unveiled at this year's Toronto auto show is a perfect example. The car is meant to “demonstrate how Ford will bring European flavour to America,” says Martin Smith, Ford's European design chief. Indeed, the Focus you see here in Toronto has the same styling as the Focus that will be sold in Europe.

The story is similar for the 2011 Buick Regal being unveiled in Toronto. It's a North American version of the Opel Insignia, which was the 2009 Car of the Year across the pond. The look is stylish and the cabin is practical. It is by no means a bland, overly large, lumpy design.

What's happening here? One word: Europe.

With higher fuel costs and smaller roads, European car designers in general have pulled ahead of their North American counterparts when it comes to putting sex appeal into smaller, sensible vehicles that are fuel efficient but still entertaining to drive.

Chrysler Group chief designer Ralph Gilles often talks about the emotional appeal that has long been missing from so many cars in North America, particularly smaller ones.

“Small cars of the past were not necessarily done with passion,” he says.

But if the new models coming to showrooms are any indication, the days of uninspired, appliance-like econoboxes might be at an end. In North America, small-car design is no longer an oxymoron.

Part of what is pushing the new designs is a result of fuel economy regulations, which are getting increasingly stiff. By 2016, auto makers must meet a fleet-wide average of 6.7 litres/100 km for all the vehicles each sells.

But another piece of the puzzle comes from a shift in consumer preferences. Higher fuel prices and concerns about climate change have had an impact on buying habits. While more than half of Canada's new car market is made up of small cars, small cars and vehicles powered by four-cylinder engines have also been on the rise in the United States since 2004.

The number and variety of small-car nameplates will continue to increase in Canada simply because the Americans are showing a taste for what's been popular in Canada and Europe for years now. To set their new small cars apart, auto makers must rely on styling.

“It's not business as usual for small cars here any more,” said Moray Callum, Ford's design director for cars.

The joy here for the consumer is that small cars are destined to get much more appealing, which means car designers must be more creative, expanding their horizons to take in what works in Europe and Asia.

Callum, in fact, says North America is becoming more like Europe and Asia. There, even the most basic entry-level cars have style – cars such as the Citroen C3 and Fiat 500.

“Styling will be one of the most important factors,” he says. “As consumers downsize their vehicles, they will expect the same level of craftsmanship, features and attention to design detail they find in larger, more expensive cars,” says Moray Callum, Ford's design director for cars.

Callum, naturally, points to the Ford Fiesta subcompact as a perfect example of this trend. The Fiesta that will roll into Canadian showrooms this summer is a Europe-designed hatchback and sedan with a swept-back windshield, large grille, long, thin headlights and high tail. It's already a hit in Europe.

“We're using design to distinguish the Fiesta in the marketplace,” says Callum.

Ford, of course, is hardly alone. Three upcoming small Chevrolets – the Spark, Cruze and redesigned Aveo – are more examples of designs that are small, practical and green. The quad headlights, accent lines on the hood and tall rear end on the 2011 Aveo give the small hatchback a funky European look.

The smaller three-door Spark, also due in 2011, is a stubby Ford Fiesta-fighter with swept-back headlights that run the length of the hood. And the smoothly styled Cruze is a compact aimed at the Mazda3, the Ford Focus and Honda Civic, to name three.

Tom Matano, director of industrial design at San Francisco's Academy of Art University, says small-car designs will become more interesting as the sales volumes increase in the United States.

“If the market gets bigger, designs will diversify,” says Matano, a former Mazda design chief.

Chrysler's Gilles says his company is working with the new Fiat owners to make future Chrysler models “not just fuel-efficient but very compelling.” Fiat's expertise in creating attractive but small packages has been built up over decades and will have a major impact on Chrysler.

“There's a wonderful generation of Americans coming along – the millennials,” says Gilles.

“They don't have the same paradigms that even my generation has. I think the time is right for a new design paradigm.”

Of course, that means designers working on cars to be sold in the U.S. and Canada must not only cope with the new design paradigm, but execute it extremely well – on time, on budget and on the mark to meet consumer demands and government regulations.

Pity the poor car designer? Perhaps. Or perhaps it's time to celebrate the freedom 21st-century car designers are now enjoying.