The Volvo Concept XC Coupé won two prestigious design awards this week, further raising the excitement around Volvo Car Group’s (Volvo Cars) new design language. The Concept XC Coupe was awarded the title “Best Concept Car” at the 2014 EyesON Design Awards at the 2014 Detroit Motor Show, while Volvo’s latest concept vehicle also won the award for “Best use of Color, Graphics and Materials”.
The 2014 North American International Auto Show in Detroit hosts the world premiere of Volvo Cars’ new Concept XC Coupé – the second of three concept cars that showcase the company’s future design direction. Like the similarly highly-acclaimed and award-winning Volvo Concept Coupé, the Concept XC Coupé demonstrates the design possibilities of Volvo Cars’ new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) that will underpin most cars from Volvo Cars in the future, starting with the all-new Volvo XC90 that premieres later this year.
“Enjoying a car with great power and capabilities, at the same time as you are safe and protected, gives a great feeling of joy and freedom,” said Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Vice President Design at Volvo Cars.
The Concept XC Coupé is also presented alongside a separate interior sculpture.
“We wanted to create a piece of art which also highlighted the conceptual and innovative stowage area. And to be able to show it to all stand attendees, rather than just those getting close to the car, we created the sculpture in satin white and dark glass that covers the stowage area and extreme skiing equipment. A true piece of art placed in a world of functional design,” said Robin Page, Director Interior Design at Volvo Cars.
The interior sculpture emphasizes Volvo Cars’ philosophy of “Designed Around You” by focusing on how the stowage area is cleverly designed to accommodate customers’ outdoor activity equipment. The sculpture shows how the designers have designed a wet and dry compartment for equipment in a modern and aesthetically clean way.
“The color scheme and modern design language illustrates our connection and influence from modern design products for outdoor activities as being produced by companies such as POC, based in Sweden,” said Thomas Ingenlath. “The part I am most proud of is creating something so unique and fresh in an industry that mostly works to quiet traditional ways of showing new products. To me this is a true piece of art.”
“I’m honored and very happy of course. This is very encouraging, and it shows that Volvo’s new design direction is appreciated not only by the general public and the press, but also by the leading people in the car design business. And Volvo Cars has only just started its exciting new journey with a brand new design language,” says Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Vice President Design at Volvo Cars.
The EyesOn Design Award ceremony is an annual event that takes place in conjunction with the Detroit Motor Show. The EyesOn Design Award jury contains of a prominent group of designers and from auto makers and academia. For more information, please go to: http://www.eyesondesign.org/auto-show-awards/
