You could have at least posted the bloody picture... You said it sucks? Time to have a big long winded write up about car styling!
Hmm... High beltline, awkward curvey flairs, at least the lines have been smoothed out compared to......
Third gens got hit hard by the continued increase safety regulations. High belt lines will never go away. So manufactures have to design around them. Bubble hoods and tall trunks are here to stay as well.
Imprezas
Lets fire up the whole impreza line and do some comparisons:
(we'll only go from the side since that's all we have to work with right now)
4th gens: An improvement upon the third gens. Third gens had to raise the beltline to meet safety regulations. This left a lot of void space on the sides of the car. The negative space was cured on the 2011 by adding the curve flairs. The 2012 seems to fill the void space on the sides with the curve flairs and the door crease. Side windows have also been refined from the third gen so they end less awkwardly and abruptly. The disaster that was the third gen C pilar has been fixed. The car is meant to look sleeker, and it pulls it off much better compared to the third gens. They did good work for what they've got to work with.
3rd gens: Wow what happened. Regulations murdered this one. Framed doors, high beltline, bubble hood, big tall trunk. All in the name of safety. Styling over recent years has favored curves over sharper lines. Most cars feel bland and generic. The seam lines are also very awkward compared to second gens. The bumper cover seams being at odd angles is distracting and awkward, where as the 2nd gen's managed to have them as close to horizontal as reasonable, also managing to flow with the box flare and door crease lines.
2nd gen: Lower beltine compared to third gens, yet higher than the first gens. Void space on the doors is filled by the box flares and the door accent seam. Side rockers and skirts also add something to look at compared to third gens. Compared to the 1st gen, the hood looks a bit taller/higher, but still manages to maintain the lines of the car compared to the wtf bubble of the third gens. Greenhouse area is still pretty big, but isn't as much as the first gens.
1st gen: Ah the GC impreza. The golden boy of imprezas. Subaru and Prodrive made this bad boy. Note how the beltline is the lowest of all the imprezas. The beltline to greenhouse ratio is much much different compared to current cars. The larger greenhouse area makes GC's look like the pope-mobile in my opinion. I think they look dorky from the side, others may argue otherwise. The lower hood and beltlines are the result of both styling at the time along with less safety rules to adhere to than we have currently. The 90's japanese car styling is very apparent on the early imprezas, the front end very much so.
Other Cars!
Now we've done a side by side comparison of the imprezas, lets look at some other cars. I'll only do the 4th gen and 1st gen imprezas because I've already written a lot that most people will skip over already.
2011 mazda3. Same class of small japanese 4 door. Couldn't find any 2012 side press shots, so we'll work with what we got. Things to note, mazda3 is cheaper, better on gas, but fwd.
Same tall belt, bubble hood, tall trunk. Same aggressive jagged headlights. Same rear passenger window. Impreza wins on the bumper cover seam for the rear and door crease. Fenders are a push. Mazda 3 front end has the retarded looking happy face which is supposed to be tone down on future models.
Lets do the 2010 Chevy Aveo!
Look at it yourself. The Aveo looks dorky as hell. Fine fine, I'll take this serious. High belt lines on the aveo and the higher degree of angle on the A and C pillars give the impression of more greenhouse area while still maintaining the high belt to pass safety. Side door body lines fill the negative space caused by high belt, and when compared to 3rd gen imprezas, you can see the importance of filling this space, either by flares or creases or what have you. Impreza has a sleeker profile than the aveo in my opinion...
Kia Rio. Yup
Last one on your list, Honda:
High belt bubble hood as expected. Impreza fills the side voids better. Longer hood of the impreza manages to make for a sleeker looking car. Civic handles the A and C pillar angles much better than the aveo and reo, and similar to the impreza to make for a sleeker looking car.
But but but! The older cars were unique snowflakes that were nothing like the other cars of their time!
Welp.
Note the headlights, grill, bumper cover. You'll see the similar shapes between the two models.
Not as aggressive as the GTR or impreza because it's a boring sedan, but you'll notice styling similarities. Similar headlight shape, grill opening. Hole in the middle of the bumper cover. Same belt lines.
Each car has their good parts and flaws. Some are arguably better than others. I think the 06-07's were the best impreza, others argue the GCs were, and nates 3rd gen looks amazing after the tweaks he's done. Styling remains similar to the cars of the generation with companies cross pollinating each other with the styling of the current times. It'll be interesting to see what the future brings in engineering, styling, and safety regulations. It's all give and take my friend.
Also, the wrx/sti is staying on the third gen platform for 2012.
