At the broadest level, there are three, count ‘em, distinct schools of car design. Let’s take a look at them.
The First School of Car Design distinguishes itself with innocuous styling that endears to the lowest common denominator. That is, those for whom industrial design means designing a coal-burning power plant. This school of design is embraced by Lexus’ L-Finesse language, as exemplified by the Lexus RX350. This school is usually commercially successful due to its broad range of appeal, but enthusiasts lament this unemotive approach for its relentless pursuit of boredom. Spitefully, history will occasionally mock the design literate by viewing such designs as high style watermarks of understated style. Classic example: 1990 E32 BMW 7-series.