On average there are roughly 30,000 different parts in a car, and pulling those parts together into something that conforms to safety regulations whilst also looking sleek and exciting is no easy feat. Auto design that provokes and inspires is a difficult task, but it's one of the most important elements of selling cars - we know that how a car looks from the outside can be a real deal breaker for buyers. With car design being such a huge factor in people's car-buying process, we wanted to see which of the world's most popular everyday car models, luxury supercars and electric vehicles are capturing and holding our attention the most when it comes to their exterior aesthetics.
Using a novel eye-tracking software, we conducted a study of 40 of the world's best-selling autos to reveal which motors catch our attention the quickest - and hold on to it the longest. We tracked the time it took for participants' eyes to focus on a particular car model, as well as the amount of time they spent staring at a particular model before their gaze went elsewhere. These two metrics were cross-referenced to create a weighted score that reveals which car models are truly the most eye-catching.
When it comes to everyday cars, even if their primary purpose is fairly functional, we all have our visual preferences - some of us like to do the school run in something sporty-looking, and some of us enjoy doing the weekly shop in a dramatic-looking 4x4. Our study showcased a variety of best-selling everyday cars to find which ones stand out from the crowd.
German automotive manufacturer BMW took first place in our study, with the 3 Series garnering an 'eye-catching' score of 84%, followed by the Volvo XC40 and the Volkswagen Golf.
The rest of the top 10 included some notable models too, with the subcompact Mercedes-Benz A-Class also scoring above 70%, commanding SUV the Land Rover Defender scoring a respectable 68% and the iconic MINI Cooper getting an 'eye-catching' score of 61%.
| Rank | Car | Average Time Spent (seconds) |
Average Time to First Fixation (seconds) |
Overall Weighted Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | BMW 3 Series | 4.27 | 2.79 | 84% |
| #2 | Volvo XC40 | 3.18 | 2.09 | 82% |
| #3 | Volkswagen Golf | 2.26 | 2.10 | 71% |
| #4 | Hyundai Tucson | 2.45 | 2.27 | 70% |
| #5 | Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 2.62 | 2.39 | 70% |
| #6 | Toyota Yaris | 1.56 | 1.89 | 68% |
| #7 | Land Rover Defender | 3.38 | 3.32 | 68% |
| #8 | Audi A3 | 2.13 | 2.59 | 61% |
| #9 | MINI Cooper | 1.48 | 2.17 | 61% |
| #10 | Nissan Qashqai | 2.00 | 2.60 | 60% |
Luxury cars are truly in another league of their own, with drivers spending extraordinary amounts of money in order to own some of the world's most powerful vehicles. Whether it's a status symbol or satisfies a need for speed - these cars really are some of the most beautiful in the world from a design perspective. In our study the Porsche 911 passed with flying colours, achieving the highest score out of all car categories (everyday, luxury and electric) with a score of 91%. The top three most eye-catching supercars are rounded-out with the Lexus LC500 and the Ferrari F40.
The rest of the top 10 consisted of a variety of other impressive models, seven of which were given 'eye-catching' scores of over 70%. The Italian brands held gazes for the longest, with the Lamborghini Urus and Porsche 911 holding participants' eyes in place for 2.40 and 2.50 seconds respectively, while the German Bugatti Veyron was the car that took the shortest amount of time for participants' eyes to flicker to it.
| Rank | Car | Average Time Spent (seconds) |
Average Time to First Fixation (seconds) |
Overall Weighted Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Porsche 911 | 2.51 | 2.51 | 91% |
| #2 | Lexus LC500 | 1.93 | 2.06 | 88% |
| #3 | Ferrari F40 | 2.05 | 2.18 | 88% |
| #4 | Lamborghini Urus | 2.40 | 2.95 | 83% |
| #5 | Bugatti Veyron | 1.40 | 2.05 | 78% |
| #6 | Mercedes-Benz AMG GT | 2.00 | 3.00 | 74% |
| #7 | Audi R8 | 2.04 | 3.08 | 74% |
| #8 | Lotus Emira | 1.74 | 3.25 | 66% |
| #9 | McLaren 720S | 1.35 | 2.70 | 65% |
| #10 | BMW i8 | 1.65 | 3.25 | 64% |
Electric cars are some of the newest on the market, and for many their early designs left much to be desired. However, with time and investment, EVs have made huge leaps in their aesthetic appeal, with brands like Porsche and Tesla pushing the market to create ever-more attractive designs.
Our study ranked the Porsche Taycan as the most eye-catching, with a score of 86%, followed by the Tesla Model 3 (84%) and the MG4 EV (64%). Other notable entries in the top 10 include the likes of South Korean brand Kia's EV6, the MINI Electric and the Audi e-tron.
| Rank | Car | Average Time Spent (seconds) |
Average Time to First Fixation (seconds) |
Overall Weighted Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Porsche Taycan | 5.63 | 3.09 | 86% |
| #2 | Tesla Model 3 | 3.86 | 2.25 | 84% |
| #3 | MG4 EV | 2.11 | 2.49 | 64% |
| #4 | Kia EV6 | 2.64 | 2.49 | 62% |
| #5 | MINI Electric | 1.91 | 2.59 | 60% |
| #6 | Audi e-tron | 2.58 | 3.07 | 60% |
| #7 | Polestar 2 | 2.09 | 2.99 | 56% |
| #8 | Vauxhall Mokka Electric | 1.39 | 3.07 | 49% |
| #9 | Volkswagen ID.3r | 1.39 | 3.52 | 44% |
| #10 | Renault ZOE | 1.10 | 3.57 | 44% |
40 of the world's best-selling car models were compiled and divided into every day, luxury and electric car categories. A study group of 32 persons were shown a series of images depicting the aforementioned vehicles and by using eye-tracking software, participants' eye movements were tracked and recorded to show the average time it took to fixate on each car image, as well as the average time spent looking at each image. We then combined these scores using an equal weighting formula, to assign a score out of 100 for each car and rank them according to which one participant's eyes were drawn to the fastest, and which ones held their gazes for the longest. The resulting scores have been used to rank the cars, according to which ones are truly the most 'eye-catching'.
All data is correct as of December 2022.