5 Questions to Peter Horbury
The Concept Universe was introduced at Auto Shanghai in April. We asked our Design Director Peter Horbury five questions
/Jonathan & Andreas
You were at Auto Shanghai in April to launch the Concept Universe, a new kind of luxury car from Volvo. How was it received?
It was received amazingly well. The Chinese loved the bold exterior and the untraditional front-end. Our designers asked the Chinese how they would describe Concept Universe to a friend, and it was amazing to hear them use words such as solid, fluidity, sculptural and powerful. These are exactly the same words we were using when we initially set out to create this new design.
Why do car brands put so much money in developing concept cars? And more specifically, why did you design the Concept Universe?
Concept Cars are typically made to showcase new designs and new technology. We created Concept Universe to get feedback from the global car buying public, in order to find the ultimate design of the next large luxury sedan from Volvo.
The Concept Universe was described as a design study. What does that mean, and what did the process look like?
A design study is something we do when we are still in the process of designing. We use design studies to try new things and showcase new ideas to see if they are accepted by our target customers. If they work, we develop them further, if not, then we change them. After presenting Concept Universe in Shanghai, we have collected global feedback through interviews and surveys, but also by closely monitoring social media comments. It has given us valuable insights and great inspiration.
When working on concepts cars and futuristic designs, where do you look for inspiration?
We look everywhere. On YouTube, in movies, fashion and arts, in stores, in nature and also in our own brand history. We spent two days at the Volvo museum to find inspiration for Concept Universe. We had an idea that the car should be something that Greta Garbo would drive or, in fact, be driven in. Something that wasn’t retro but had elegance to it. We wanted Concept Universe to feel expensive and turned to Georg Jensen for inspiration. We also asked our designers to forget about cars for a while, and to design sculptures. That way we brought fluidity and a sculptural gracefulness to the exterior.
Frankfurt Motor Show is coming up in September. What can we expect from Volvo?
In Frankfurt, we will show you the next step in our quest for the future Volvo. We believe it is something that will exceed expectations of what Volvo design is.
