They do look very bionicle-ish...

It certainly won't appeal to established fans, but then, it's not us they are marketing this to. Young kids will love these.
Hasbro will still be producing a lot of "traditional" Transformers for our demographic, but as they've been saying for a few years on their marketing materials (at BotCon and ToyFairs), they are endeavouring to capture other demographics. Because traditional Transformers has quite a narrow demographic. We are still their core demographic, but they are trying to expand more to sustain the Brand if any of the Core series has a downturn (like they have in the last couple years). And I think they acknowledge that these won't appeal to established fans, but do get the Brand in the subconscious of adjacent demographics... like getting a foot in the door with Crossovers or toddler toys (Rescue Bots), to which those people may become fans of the Core lines we support.

I can understand the need to be creative with the TFs brand though, as the basic concept can only go so far before the general public get bored and need a break from it. Toylines suffer if they last too long in Western Markets (due to Western retailers demanding fast turnover of new stock, and new concepts), so can often come back with success after a hiatus.
Western retailers (led by Walmart) are the catalyst for killing off successful toy brands, because they prefer to have something "new" on the shelf next week/month/year, no matter how successful it is... because they have no interest in supporting someone else's Brands.
If it succeeds, they made money for that financial year and move onto next year's products to keep the shelves looking new.
If it fails, there are plenty of other Toy companies with product to then buy.