I'd say the same about the current generation of Civic. I really didn't like the look when they first came out, but I saw one the other day next to a new Corolla and thought, "These two are competitors?" The Honda looks so much better, no matter how many fake vents Toyota puts on the Corolla.
I'm glad you said that, they vastly improved the civic in recent times (compared to the 2010 one that I had).
The new corolla looks terribad