I'm quite late to the party (ie. this thread) as always, but here are my few cents:
As a die hard car fan, one with an unnatural love for small hatchbacks with manual transmissions and lift-off oversteer tendencies, I have to say that the most important car of the decade is the Tesla Model 3. Tesla proved that the electric car concept just works and it can be accessible to the masses. Like it or not, this is the future, right here.
As for design, nothing particular comes to mind. In a more general sense, Lexus'es latest design language springs up, as something extravagant that kind of works. Volvo has also done wonders with their design department. Everybody else is just meh (ie. evolution).
In the management chapter, I just don't care. Same about motorsport.
Technology, though, is fascinating. 15 years ago we used to see iDrive v1.0 as something extraterrestrial. Now, you can have lane departure assist and emergency braking in a Huyndai i10. That's the very definition of progress. At the same time, most -if not all- cars from that decade I drove felt just easier from what I'm used to. As much as I am happy to see technology being offered to the masses, I miss the analog days.
Finally, for the personal note, I'm in the same spot as I was the decade before that. I still have the same two cars as when I first registered here, back in 2005. My Clio has now about 410.000 km and the S60 about 230.000 km and I still love them both. Last year I got myself another car though, which has become my daily driver, since the Clio is undergoing a slow process of restoration. I never expected myself to drive something from Japan, but here I am, driving around in something truly brilliant and truly horrible at the same time.
My only hope for the next decade is that good and fun cars will still be approachable in the decade that just started. I've made my peace with the electric car, which is the reason that my next big purchase is probably a descent E34. Or another Clio.
Cheers!
