The 2nd generation Saab 9-3. Pre facelift, facelift. IMO the facelift still looks pretty modern.

I like it. Although the front looks pretty similar to a Mondeo.

I’m interested in what sort of car culture is in China. Private car ownership wasn’t allowed for regular citizens until 1994, so I would not expect as much cultural significance or heritage for cars in the public conscience. I’m sure there are plenty car enthusiasts in China who enjoy engaging ICE cars but I would imagine there are also many more EV enthusiasts.

Well it inspires less confidence in a brand if recalls are very common (Hyundai).

Yep

The windshield washers in classic air-cooled Volkswagens were pressurized by the spare tire.

I will try to be more specific with my phrasing, but my original reply agrees with your thoughts. Most cars are only designed to do well in current tests and only have a little extra headroom for updated tests. In the case of the updated side impact test, only the Mazda 3 retained a good rating, while the Civic, Sentra, and Corolla all dropped one level to Acceptable. In the case of new tests, such as when the IIHS first introduced the small overlap test, only a few vehicles that were designed for the scenario performed well.

I would expect that most cars are designed to get the top rating in the current crash tests, with a little extra headroom. Here are some examples of engineers planning for the future, the Mazda CX-5 scored well in both of the IIHS updated tests and its last major redesign was in 2017. The first gen Volvo XC90 performed well in the small overlap test, and it released in 2003.