GFerg

Volvo's new chief designer sees huge potential for brand, seeks timeless look
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
Posted Date: 9/27/05
When Volvo Car Corp. hired Steve Mattin to head its design team, it received an experienced eye for luxury cars. At Mercedes-Benz, Mattin was a key player in the design of the current S-Class, E-Class and A-Class cars.

Mattin, 40, spoke with Automotive News Staff Reporter Mark Rechtin about his new job.

Why did you make the jump to Volvo?

I had spent 17 years at Mercedes-Benz, straight from university. I was having a great time at Mercedes. I had lots of responsibility and there were lots of new products.

But the opportunity at Volvo was to be in charge of a brand, not just in charge of a team.

Volvo also is a brand with huge potential.

It changed dramatically with the last generation with Peter Horbury's assistance.

Now there are new vehicles coming, like the C70 convertible and C30 hatchback. These could be iconic cars, opening Volvo to new segments and new customers.

There also is the continuing pipeline of cars being redesigned.

When will we see your imprint on Volvo design?

I am making design decisions right now.

The S80 (coming in 2007) is not a radical change.

I would like to take a bigger step and position the brand more strongly to show its image and premiumness more.

What will be the first indicator of your influence?

We have discussed the exterior lights.

Some future products are already frozen, but we are trying to modify them to make them better.

Lights are as much the face of the car as the grille. It's a thing you remember and notice.

There is a recognizability factor, and Volvo hasn't really done anything in that area.

What is Volvo missing that you wish to instill from your experience at Mercedes-Benz?

At Mercedes-Benz, there is an attention to detail, refinement, balance, proportion and innovation. When you look at the car, you see that it is the whole product, yet they also get involved in all the middling details.

Volvo's cars are fairly similar.

What do you see as Volvo's design signature?

The strongest cues are the simplicity of surface development, especially with interiors and items like the floating center stack. That is very Volvo.

As for the exteriors, the Volvo shoulder is more pronounced than that of any other automaker. Volvo has iconic rear graphics and taillights, but they can be accentuated.

Volvo needs a timeliness to its design and identity, something you can visualize in the day or night. I think Volvo should be pushing design as a core value, along with safety, quality and the environment.

Are there any purely Scandinavian design elements you see in Volvo vehicles?

Sometimes it's easier to understand Swedish design if you are not Swedish. If you are in the forest, you don't always see the trees.

Sweden is a little isolated, so if you come in from the outside, you can pick up on the differences.

Take furniture. There is a simplicity in its form language and S-curves, like when you look at the layers or laminated wood which emphasizes the form. You can see that in the Volvo center stack or the shoulder, in the flowing forms.

I think Volvo can follow the example of Bang & Olufsen (audio and video products) in design. Or look at Sony Ericsson and Nokia cell phones, which are more exclusive and exquisite than Motorola, which are more gadgety.

How would you improve on Volvo's existing design?

I want to see more attention to detail, to make its features more iconic. A lot of customers remember the Volvo boxes of the 1970s and '80s and haven't really reconnected with Volvo.

We need to show that Volvo is an exciting brand in new market segments, with more sex appeal. But I don't want Volvo to become too overcomplicated.

There needs to be a balance of details and surface language. You can have beautiful proportions but terrible executions. Or your cars' interiors are so complicated you don't know where to look.

Volvo cars need to make the driver feel at home, comfortable and relaxed.

We can't make it too busy, or take the pleasure out of driving. The Scandinavian way is more relaxed.

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mmarshall

Volvo IMO needs to start paying more attention to comfort. Almost every Volvo product I have ever test-driven.....even the non-performance ones and the standard family sedans...has had what to my tastes is an unacceptably firm ride and seats. I have heard this complaint from others as well...not just myself. Reliability has also dropped on some of its recent models. The best reason I can think of for buying Volvo products are the unmatched safety features in them for the money, though some new Volvos, like the new S40 and V50, are redone versions of existing "world platform" cars.

LexFather

So basiclaly, he's going to make Volvos look like Japanese cars.

GFerg

Ehhh....I agree and disagree. I agree that Volvo needs to focus on more comfort, but the seats are not the problem(well for me and the many customers that I know of who complained about Volvo comfort). For me its not the seat that is uncomfortable as I think that Volvo makes the most comfortable seats in the mass produced industry, its the lack of leg and headroom. Because of the swoopy roofline of the newer Volvos, headroom and to a certain extent legroom has suffered. Upfront headroom is absolutely great on all models. On smaller models like the S40 and V50, front headroom and legroom is quite tight. The biggest problem with all Volvos is rearseat room(including the XC90). S40 rear seat?? As useful as a SC430. S60 is pretty tight as well. The front passengers are required to move the seat up for the rear passenger to fit comfortably. Headroom is lacking. Even its biggest model the S80 has horrible rearseat room. Its really a disgrace that the seating in such a big car is sooo small.

The older Volvos(S70, S90, 850, etc) all had good rear seat room. Those models even included a roof indent(I guess thats what you can call it) for taller rear seat passengers, something that the newer models do not have.

And as far as the firm rides, I honestly think that the older models have a slightly firmer or bone jarring ride than the newer models. The newer models are still European sporty(not as sporty as Audi or BMW) but also quite comfortable for me. But if these customers are complaining about a too stiff ride in a Volvo, good luck trying to find a car with a smoother ride. You really dont have much of a selection as you used to(which you also stated many times before. Luxury car makers going for sportier suspension settings. Heck even Lexus is adding more sport to their classic luxury cars). But if they insist on having a Volvo then I suggest them to order the Four-C Adaptive Suspension. That system is wonderful and probably one of the better systems out there(behind BMW's system). I also recommend them to get rid of those horrible OEM Pirelli P6 All Season tires as those things have horrible ride quality and blow out way to often.<------ that might be the problem right there for some people.

GFerg

I like the way the newer Volvos look. Hopefully they can evolve the design quite nicely. One thing I hate about VOlvo is that they dont change designs that often. It will be 8 years going on 9 before we get a redesign of the S80. Way to long for that model. The midlife facelift we got in 2004 didnt do much. Even though it is a nice design, its also a forgettable one.

mmarshall

I agree that the lower, swoopier Volvo roofs have compromised headroom....but they have also helped aerodynamics, which on the former slab-styled Volvos used to be about as efficient as a drag chute.

As far as finding the same-size car with a smoother ride, I think Lexus did pretty well ( by today's standards ) with the ES330.