28 October 2011
The age of the impactful, hit-you-in-the-face, one-word car names is over.
Case in point: earlier this year Volvo unveiled a car called ‘Concept Universe’ at Auto Shanghai and, picking up where that left off, revealed another one called ‘Concept You’ to the European market at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show. To match the snooty names was this equally snooty statement about Concept You from the model’s exterior designer: “It reflects the serenity in light when the sun is rising or setting.”
While the design of the entirely hand-built Concept Universe is futuristic, that of the Concept You is soft and heavily inspired by classic models. The exterior is sleek and coupe-like while the interior is like an escape to the Scandinavian countryside: wooden floors, hand-tufted carpets and ultra-comfortable individual chairs.
As in Concept Universe, Concept You has a luxurious high-tech interior with buttons replaced by head-up displays and a touch-screen. The number-one word used to describe the Concept You is intuitive. The touch-screen can tell whether it’s the driver or passenger approaching by tracking eye movements and sensing what direction their hand is coming from. This ensures that functions like surfing the web are only accessible by passengers while the car is in motion.
"This eternal beauty of [world-famous Danish lifestyle brand] Georg Jensen design is what we are aiming for with the whole concept car. Just like the finest luxury goods, this design should feel handcrafted and durable enough to stand the test of time," says Volvo Car Corporation’s vice president of design Peter Horbury.
This is the future of cars – design, technology and bizarre-o names.