Yahoo Autos The Volvo XC40's Design: "Much More In Your Face"
For the new 60 Series, Volvo went for a more muscular exterior to emphasize that their mid-sized SUV is not the seven-seater luxury barge the XC90 was born to be. But according to Head of Design Thomas Ingenlath, the Swedes will go much further for their upcoming compacts, which can't just be smaller, yet sportier versions of the XC60, a car that they already made sharper to differentiate from the range-topping XC90. Instead, they have the chance to go as radical as they did with the P1800 many years ago.
Sure enough, last year's 40.1 and 40.2 concepts gave us a fairly good clue of what that idea can translate to in the upcoming XC40 and S40. As well as promising not to be scaled down versions of already existing designs, these Compact Modular Architecture (CMA) platform-based cars will come with a wide range of 3-cylinder, hybrid and all-electric drivetrains, as well as Volvo's latest semi-autonomous safety features.
This is what Ingenlath had this to say:
What we will do with the 40 cluster and the compacts is that we add a design flare to Volvo which is very different to what we did with the 90 and 60. The 90 (XC90, S90, V90) and the 60 (XC60) are very much the Scandinavian premium luxury expression. But then when we came to the 40 I said: “Look guys... we did that now in two different ways, I really do not believe that it would be right for Volvo to do it a third time, and maybe go even more sporty.” I mean, that’s ridiculous to do something sporty, and then you do something even sportier. I think that’s silly. 90 and 60 has the space, that’s fine. 40 is clearly adding a new component, and that is about how we actually treat volumes in a disruptive way. While everything is so organic and naturally grown in the 90 and 60 cars, in the 40s, it is much more provocative and surprising how graphics and shapes are composed there. It is much more harsh, it’s much more in your face. There’s not such a smooth transition. It really comes off as a hard cut, right there, and in that way, it is more upbeat and more aggressive, especially how the color splits are done. At the front as well, that car has much more of a provocative attitude in it, and that’s really how in the 40 cluster, we will play and widen the scope of what people think Volvo could do, in terms of design.
Sounds like a plan. The last Volvo compact that looked really cool was the C30 in 2006, and Volvo has come a long way since making Ford Focuses look better.
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