The virtues of Scandinavian design — clean lines, generously applied curves, and a high premium on function — were the winning formula this year at the North American International Auto Show, in Detroit. Volvo, virtually the last Scandinavian automaker standing, took the annual Eyes on Design award for both Best Concept Car and Best Use of Color, Graphics, and Materials for its newly unveiled Concept XC Coupe, a preview of the design details of the forthcoming 2015 Volvo XC90 SUV — and the new design language for the brand as a whole.
That’s not to say that the new two-door, plug-in hybrid sport utility vehicle makes any overt references to the likes of Hans Wegner or other Scandinavian design legends. “We’re not designing furniture or architecture. We have to find our own way, how to design a Scandinavian flavored car,” senior vice president of design Thomas Ingenlath, former head of Volkswagon’s Design Center in Potsdam, Germany, explained in an interview with Autonet. The Concept XC Coupe instead looked at the needs of the contemporary driver, actually taking its cues from Stockholm-based high-tech ski gear manufacturer POC Sports. (“Outdoor activities are an important part of the Swedish lifestyle,” Ingenlath said in a statement. To drive this point home, the coupe arrived in Detroit with a ski box already fixed to its roof.)
A key feature of XC Coupe is the spacious cargo area in which untold pairs of skis will be stowed, and with its 21-inch wheels, heightened roofline, and elongated hood, the coupe commands a muscular presence. But the car’s easygoing Scandinavian persona is maintained by a lack of sharp corners, an elegantly bow-shaped beltline, and cheerful bursts of orange on the tires and under the body. Illustrating new design signatures that will become standard for every Volvo model going forward, the coupe’s circular logo actually “floats” above a concave grill, flanked by new T-shaped LED headlamps. In the back, the slender taillights take a sculptural turn, resembling bright brushstrokes tracing the outline of the back windshield and into the trunk. Beneath the exterior, the coupe demonstrates Volvo’s “Scalable Product Architecture” (affectionately referred to as SPA), a new approach to engineering lightweight, resilient safety cages designed to accommodate high-tech amenities: sensors, cameras, microprocessors, or rearward-facing radar that trigger a tightening of seatbelts under the threat of collision, for example.
“Scandinavian design certainly is very clearly defined: purity, elegance,” Ingenlath said. “To deliver on that flair and that feeling of purity and elegance and the beauty of Scandinavian design, one key factor definitely is to, in the background, be very strong in detail execution, quality, and precision. If we get that right, Scandinavian design can shine and be convincing. If you don’t get that right, it can be very pale and poor.”
While Volvo took Detroit’s “Best” title, ARTINFO found a range of other superlatives gracing the showroom floor. To see our picks for the best-designed exterior, most coveted interior, and more, click the slideshow.
Best Exterior Design: Porsche 911 Targa
Feeding our ongoing, “Mad Men”-induced obsession with the mid-century, Porsche re-launched the unmistakably hedonistic curves of its iconic 1965 911 Targa, hoop-shaped roof bar and all, but with an important twist: the formerly manual removable roof panel is now powered by the touch of a button, with opening or closing in 19 seconds. Under the hood, the throwback style boasts two different options: the Targa 4, featuring a 3.4-liter six-cylinder engine of 350 hp, or the Targa 4S, with a 3.8-liter six-cylinder engine of 400 hp.
Most Coveted Interior: Bentley Continental GT V8 S
Sporting a leaner, lower profile, the Continental GT V8 S mixes beauty and brawn, as much on the inside as it does on the surface. Its luxuriously spacious interior exudes an opulence in real craft materials — wood (in this case, dark fiddleback eucalyptus), buttery black and beige leather, and lustrous metal detailing — tempered by sporty allusions to the brand’s racing history. The contours and embroidered stripes of the seats offer subtle, racecar-like reminders that you’re inside a car built for speed.
Most Gadgets: Cadillac ATS Coupe
The high-tech entertainment amenities alone of this two-door coupe offer the feel of a well-appointed living room, but it’s the particular attentiveness to the driver’s every need that elevates the experience to staying a four-star hotel. There’s the 8-inch LDC touchscreen at the center console that manages Cadillac’s CUE entertainment system, which entails a GPS, Pandora, phone numbers to your favorite restaurant delivery services, a wifi hot spot for up to seven devices at once, Siri Eyes Free for those with an iPhone, and a 12-speaker Bose system that adjusts the volume to the presence of ambient sounds. Taking into account the drawbacks that come with such a large cabin, motorized carriers hand you your seatbelt in order to minimize your reach. On the safety end, the ATS Coupe offers adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, and a display projected onto the windshield in front of the driver as a “heads up” to the threat of collision. Think of your car as an all-encompassing Rosie the Robot.
Raciest: Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge Concept
For all the subtlety, sophistication, and off-white paint jobs most of the luxury brands have to offer, Infiniti’s new concept, unveiled in a fiery red accented with dark chrome, injects a crowd-pleasing thrill into the auto show. Its aggressively sharp, broad-shouldered frame evokes a Formula One racecar, specifically the Infiniti Red Bull RB9 that three-time World Drivers’ champion Sebastian Vettel drove to victory during the 2013 Formula One season. The curving, double air-vented hood and the spoiler stretching across the rear above the fog light packaging do justice to its namesake Eau Rouge, the most famous corner of Belgium’s world-renowned Spa-Francorchamps racetrack. “If we built this car I would expect it to feature over 500 horsepower and 600 pound-feet of torque… a big personality, V-cylinder engine with forced induction,” Infiniti president Johan de Nysschen said in the car’s press release. When mixing Red Bull with Formula One, we couldn’t expect any less.