Volvo announces XC60 concept car

Brand E-Volvo-lution

18 December 2006 11:25 GMT / By Jonathan Goddard

The latest concept from Volvo has been unveiled - and continuing the current trend for genre mash-ups, it looks like a 4x4 coupe could be coming our way.

The design, which we are assured will form the basis of the new XC60, will be shown at the Detroit Moor Show in January. The production version won’t see the traffic light of day until 2009, so the “people with high demands on design, brand value and high-tech innovations” Volvo say it is for will have to silently quaff their triple-shot moccachinos for a fair while yet.

“It is time to once and for all forget about boxy Volvos”, says a belligerent Steve Mattin, Volvo’s design director. “Instead, we will make our Scandinavian design heritage more emotional and radiant by adding sculptured, exciting shapes and innovative features."

“With more expressive and emotive shapes, if you can recognise a Volvo from 50m today, I want to get to the point where you will instantly spot a Volvo from twice that distance in the future,” he continued, possibly suggesting that most people who can’t tell what a Volvo looks like may suffer a form of vision impairment.

New design cues or the hard of sight include a hugely inflated Volvo badge on the front grille, and a gargantuan arse with the letters V-O-L-V-O slapped all the way across. Presumably drivers will also be provided with Volvo-branded T-shirts, sunglasses, flags and local newspaper ad space. Thoughtfully, you also get tiny, slitty windows so other people can’t tell that it’s you behind the wheel.

Stunning interior and cool seats, however, do point to something extremely exciting, and we hope some of the weirdness survives until production.