Designer Cars: "From Munich to Tokyo, hot designers are driving sales more than ever. Who are they? Who's got the right stuff?

Never before has design been so vital to an auto maker's success -- maybe even to its survival. Sure, there have always been great-looking cars -- cars that juiced sales and set trends, from the 1950s Cadillacs with their rakish tail fins to Nissan's racy 240Z and the ultra-aerodynamic, arrow-shaped Audi 100. But reliability, horsepower, and handling loomed large then, too, separating brands distinctly in consumers' minds.
Now, a decade-long drive to close the quality and engineering gap among car manufacturers around the world has left the companies competing increasingly on, well, looks