Each to their own
I am warming to the Stilo, I hated it when it came out, the 5 door will always be horrible, but the Muliwagon looks a lot better - and I quite like the 3 door.
I can see your point about the styling, but I think it looks very Bravo-esque after seeing one at the dealers the other week. There used to be a website up when the Stilo was launched (been taken down now) all about the car. It featured a section all about the styling, and how it was based on the Bravo -
e.g. the rear lights were apparenly a challenge, to make them striking yet different to all others. This was carried over to the Bravo from the Tipo, the lights on the Bravo make the distinctive circle but we all know how many times this has been copied now - on the Stilo they make red arrows pointing up at night.
It was obvious that a lot of design thought had gone into the styling and also to keep it true to the Bravo's form, of which that's just one example.
Fiat have a habbit (with me anyway) of releasing a car and I hate the styling, then after a while it really grows on me (Tipo, Bravo, Punto, Cinq ....). The Bravo is a classic without a doubt but in the end it didn't have the mass appeal to shift the units which is what counts when you run a business. Margins are so low these days that you can't afford to make a design that doesn't sell very well. I've seen a lot more Stilo's around, admittedly mostly 5 door ones, than I saw Bravo/a'a around this long after the release. I've also seen quite a few people with them as company cars which is a market Fiat were always cr*p at getting into.
If you want to see a true design balls-up check out the Clio Saloon:
I'm a Fiat fan, my first car was a Tipo, then I bought a Bravo, my g/f has a Cinq and we're looking at a Punto in the future - who knows maybe a Silo to replace the Bravo - LOL !
Barakka
If everyone had the same taste in cars we'd all be driving Black Ford Focuses
)