2. Larger Grilles

From Audis to Chevrolets to the Lincoln MKX, with its expanse of chrome mesh between the headlights, grilles have gotten bigger.

“Designers tend to go back to grilles every few years,” says BMW’s Chapman. “They provide a sense of presence and identity. But some are getting over the top. There are these huge, big-mouth bass openings.”

Grilles have been growing since the early 1990s, when some cars barely had them at all; they help create a brand identity or a “face” for a vehicle and, ultimately, the automaker. “Over the last two years we’ve seen this trend grow more pronounced,” says Neal Oddes, director of product research and analysis at J.D. Power and Associates. “One reason is to make it more of an emblem, to make it stand out so it can be recognized. The grille is the simplest way to create a brand identity.”

Audi is notable in that all of its vehicles now have huge front grilles that extend from the hood to the lower edge of the bumper. Several years ago, this wasn’t the case. Another example is Ford’s new three-bar grille; it fits all different kinds of vehicles and distinguishes them as being in the Ford family.

But there is a practical reason for larger grilles. “Horsepower of engines has gradually increased over the years, and larger engines require more air to cool,” Oddes says.

The main grille, often between a vehicle’s headlights, has been joined by wider air apertures lower down on the front of the vehicle — secondary grilles — that do more of the cooling.

“Cooling locations are shifting,” says Chris Bangle, BMW’s design chief, whose latest creation, the aggressive Concept CS shown at the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show, offers large, lower apertures that foreshadow the design of future BMWs. New BMW models will increasingly add air openings beyond the company's traditional kidney-shaped double grilles. The result is a lower, more aggressive look.

Associated with the grille is the side air vent or gill — or "side air extractor,” as it is more elaborately called these days. They’re seeing a resurgence and often they’re strictly ornamental. “They are the signal of a luxury car now,” says Ford’s design director for North America Patrick Schiavone.