A recent poll on the Frankfurt Motor show by leading German car magazine Auto Motor und Sport should be of particular concern to car producers pursuing a revolutionary approach to car design.
When asked which concept car pleased them most, 30 per cent of the magazine's respondents plumped for Opel's Insignia.
Surprising, perhaps, given the radical nature of the upstart's design - shades of the Chrysler Crossfire in a four-door family saloon - and the rather staid model it aspires to replace.
Mercedes, however, had less success with the same idea. Its CLS - oddly reminiscent of a Nissan Primera - seeks to bridge the gap between its mainstay E-class and its range-topping CL coupé.
The result is that strange animal, the four-door coupé. While the 15 per cent vote of confidence for the CLS will disappoint Stuttgart, Jaguar's curvy R-D6 was even less impressive at a miserly 7 per cent.
There are, however, signs of some kind of class divide at work. Some expect that when it comes to innovation and design, more upmarket marques are expected to take a more conservative approach to development than mainstream marques.
Away from concept cars and onto compact class models just about to hit the showrooms, the radical approach seemed to win the day - if the poll's findings are to be believed.
Opel's new Astra - which looks nothing like the outgoing model - borrows some cues from the company's incredible no-compromise roadster, the Speedster, and attracted a resounding 52 per cent of the vote.
In contrast, Volkswagen's new Golf, which follows the slow evolutionary path taken since the hatchback's introduction in 1974, could only muster 6 per cent. Food for thought?
Maybe Volkswagen would argue that the proof of the pudding is in the number of units shifted, and it is very difficult to argue with a total 22.7 million Golfs sold since the car's original incarnation. Telling too, perhaps, was the response to the question: "Have any of the new offerings at Frankfurt inspired you to purchase a new car?" The answer was 33 per cent yes, 67 per cent no.
Time will tell where they will choose to put their money when it comes to departing with it on the forecourt.