Geneva Motor Show: Volvo teases future with stunning Concept Estate
Volvo will use next week’s Geneva Motor Show to debut the last in a trio of stunning concept cars that point to the brand’s design direction in the very near future.
The Swedish-by-heritage, Chinese-by-ownership automaker announced Thursday that it will unveil the two-door Concept Estate station wagon on March 4. It follows in the footsteps of the Concept Coupe that debuted at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September 2013, and the Concept XC Coupe that Volvo displayed at January’s Detroit Auto Show.
The trio share a similar sleek aesthetic that we’ll see in production form when Volvo debuts its all-new XC-90 SUV later this year. That long-awaited model replaces a version that’s been on the market for more than a decade -- an eternity in the auto world. Thursday’s Estate announcement also hints at what a future XC-70 station wagon could look like.
PHOTOS: Volvo’s Concept Estate
Volvo hasn’t released an all-new model since the S60 sedan came out in 2010. That was the same year Ford finalized the sale of Volvo to Chinese brand Geely, and the new owner has been reorienting the future of Volvo ever since.
Not only does this new station wagon concept give us another look at the future face of Volvo, but it also teases what the inside of the vehicles will look like. Like many recent luxury brands (Lincoln, Cadillac, Tesla), Volvo is turning to a large touchscreen in the center of the dashboard that will replace nearly all of a vehicle’s switchgear.
The design leaves only a few physical buttons (volume, play/pause, hazard lights and defrost) as well as a compact gear shift lever in the center console.
PHOTOS: Highlights of the 2014 Geneva Motor Show
“The basic idea is to organize controls and information in a perfectly intuitive and user-friendly way,” Thomas Ingenlath, senior vice president of design at Volvo, said in a statement. “Everything is exactly where you expect it to be, making the drive more enjoyable, efficient and safe.”
Ingenlath has been leading the design changes at Volvo, having been plucked by the Swedish/Chinese automaker from Volkswagen Group in 2012. There, he spent more than a decade designing for Audi, Volkswagen and Skoda.
Clearly his talents have been put to good use at Volvo, as the three concepts that have rolled out of his studio in the last six months have generated heaps of buzz around Volvo’s forthcoming reintroduction.
But sexy concepts are a lot easier to pull off than sexy vehicles in a showroom once crash regulations, production limitations and vehicle cost are factored in. We’ll find out later this year whether Ingenlath and Volvo are up to the task.
