The Scandinavian heritage
The design of Volvo’s cars is strongly flavoured by our Scandinavian origins, where elegance, function and cleanness are strong design elements. This is also reflected in the design of our cars—outside and in. We lean towards Volvo’s own design tradition with a range of style elements that have been typical Volvo features since the 1950s, such as the vertical front, the V-shaped bonnet, the pronounced shoulders along the sides of the car and the shape of the tail lights. Design heritage and modern creativity blend to create attractive car lines that stand the test of time.
Global design process
Our design is based on the customer’s needs and lifestyle along with the values that are represented by the Volvo brand. From the very outset, our designers enjoy close cooperation with product planners, pre-production engineers and engineers, not least by using standardised computer-simulated models. This is done to create harmony and balance between the car’s design and its technical content. Various design proposals are produced and then tested, first with various reference groups within the company, later in customer clinics on important markets where car buyers get to see full-scale models and offer their personal views.
The car’s design is developed and enhanced in a continuous process. The Volvo Cars design department employs about 200 people in three design centres—in Göteborg, Barcelona and Camarillo outside Los Angeles. The role of these facilities includes the monitoring of new trends, design languages and customer preferences.