Case in point:
2013 Nissan Qashqai, as seen in EU:
https://www.ledperf.co.uk/images/models/W500/qashqai_nissan_...
2013 Nissan Rogue(so Qashqai adjusted for the American market):
https://cars.usnews.com/static/images/Auto/izmo/353341/2013_...
It's the exact same car. Yet the American version gets this attrocious front, the overgrown grille and these lights that don't really go anywhere and that don't look like anything.
Again, this is my European taste speaking - if any Americans read this and they find the Rogue attractive but the Qashqai horrible - please, please tell me why it is so.
(but indeed they seem to have followed the godawful Murano styling on the US Rogue/XTrail)
This is particularly visible on the inside:
2013 Rogue:
http://st.motortrend.com/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/2013-Nissa...
2013 Qashqai:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HF9QSCoWifs/UcL9LU3c7FI/AAAAAAAAQE...
I happen to own a 2013 Nissan X-Trail and it's a completely different vehicle, it's a blocky offroader, not an inflated Qashqai like it is nowadays.
funny that they would follow the same pattern as JLR, releasing a "sport" version which is actually based on a lower category - See 1st gen Range Sport
If people wanted utility, they'd either be in hatches or LAVs (dokker, verso, and all the panel-van derivates: kangoo, partner etc)
(I went halfway and got a yeti - awesome vehicle)
Just got a new one, bit gutted that they are phasing them out - the I was so attached to the last one that I was actually quite sad when I traded it in, which was a first for me!
But car design is essentially dying as a significant differentiator. Consumers' preferences are quickly converging on jellybean-like mini SUV's - it's hard to quantify, but cars are more than ever about utility and not identity. To the extent that non-SUV's even matter any more, manufacturing technology improvements are making mid-range Korean cars about as visually striking as an Audi to the average person.
Anyway, I mostly suspect that recognizably "American" cars are holding on to some garish/aggressive elements because they're the the only way left to visibly differentiate - they'd rather be spunky and recognizable as their own (ugly) brand than blend in with Hyundais and Mazdas on the road.