Concept Car of the Week: Volvo YCC (2004)

Twelve years ago, at the Geneva motor show, Volvo unveiled a car that left the mainly male-dominated car undustry and its media wringing their hands with worry that they may appear sexist. The car itself was not the issue but its design team and philosophy for here was a car designed and developed by and entirely female team.

Was it positive discrimination gone mad? Or sexist in itself? Of course it was neither but it did highlight the fact that many women worked behind the grey-suited facade as well as recognising the differences in the sexes’ priorities.

This is what Car Design News’ Laura Blossfeld wrote of it at the time:

I was bemused by the remarks of a few auto industry executives, who were quoted as saying that they found the Volvo YCC was perhaps condescending or even patronizing to women. This concept, however, is a serious attempt to conceive and design a car by women for women – and men – the YCC team are convinced that their solution appeals to both genders.

The nine women behind the YCC: Maria Widell Christiansen (Project Manager Design), Eva-Lisa Andersson (Project manager YCC), Elna Holmberg, Maria Uggla (Responsible Colour & Trim), Camilla Palmertz, Cynthia Charwick (Responsible Interior design), Anna Rosen (Responsible Exterior design), Lena Ekelund, Tatiana Butovitsch Temm

In the seventies, in the infancy of feminism, it was decidedly controversial to point out the differences between men and women. Over the past 10 years, new research has shown marked differentiation in skills and behavior between the sexes.

“Spatial ability, (judging speed, distance, angles and direction), is located in the right side of the brain for males and is one of their strongest abilities… Research commissioned by a UK defensive driving school showed that men averaged 82% accuracy in reverse parking someone else’s car close to the curb… women scored only 22% accuracy.” - Allan Pease in ‘Why Men Don’t Listen, and Women Can’t Read Maps’.

In light of these studies, it’s hardly surprising that parking assistance was a high priority with the women surveyed by Volvo. There are many other examples of innate differences that up till now haven’t been taken into serious account by the car industry; not that they haven’t tried, but most past attempts have appeared clichéd.

The Volvo YCC all-woman team has taken a very measured, analytical approach to address the real needs of women drivers. But the design team also stress that they wanted to add females as customers, not exclude any men. “The park assist is there for added convenience, for both genders.”

“If you meet the expectations of women, you exceed the expectations of men,” according to Marti Barletta, an American expert on female consumers. The idea for ‘Your Concept Car’ was hatched in 2001 during a series of workshops at Volvo that Ms. Barletta presented. 54% of all Volvo buyers in the US are women and the percentage is growing in Europe. The project brief was to develop a car in the premium segment for the independent female professional, Volvo’s most demanding customers.

Relying on extensive customer research, Volvo found that these female buyers wanted everything that men did in terms of style, performance and prestige, but also had additional requests: good visibility, easy ingress/egress, smart storage solutions, the possibility to personalize, and minimal maintenance. (I’m sure men want all these things as well but perhaps didn’t prioritize them as highly).

To address the problems encountered with parallel parking, the YCC team developed a system called the parallel parking assistant. This system can judge if there is enough space between cars to park the car simply by one push of the button.

Once the system approves the amount of space, the driver selects the auto park function by pressing the button a second time. This function aids with the steering to slip the car into the parking space. I teased Anna Rosen, the exterior designer, by pointing out that in case the system misfunctions, there’s always the fact that the whole rear end of the car is a bumper, a big flat panel made of a tough durable material…very practical.

Anna responded, “I wanted to make a bold statement by making a feature out of the rear panel emphasizing the car’s sporty and functional aspects. The other strong exterior feature is the muscular ‘Volvo shoulder’. The front end has a very clean appearance, due to the absence of cut lines (the engine is encapsulated, accessed by removing the entire front end, like a race car).

The V-shaped hood is inverted with the fenders high, another aid when parking, and the hood low, giving better forward visibility. Add this to the fact that the rear window extends right to the extremities of the car and the driver will know exactly where the four corners of the car are located.

“In terms of visibility, the designers have left nothing to chance. In order to insure that the driver is positioned with the best line of sight they have developed the Ergovision system. This system warns the driver if the line of vision is wrong by means of a lenticular hologram located on the A-pillar. In order to define the optimum driving position, the driver’s body is scanned and the data is then stored in the personal key unit. Once the driver has entered the vehicle and placed the key in the center console dock, then seat, seat belt, headrest, pedals, and steering wheel would all be adjusted to suit the driver’s build.

To facilitate ingress and egress a gull wing door was chosen. “The gull wing splits at the color break,” Anna explained, ” The sill rotates down as the door opens so you don’t get dirty. At the same time the hydraulic height adjustment automatically moves into the high position, ergonomically better for getting in and out.”

The highlight of the interior was the degree of flexibility available due to the eight interchangeable seat pad options with eight matching shag carpets, all washable and easily exchanged. The options include dark brown leather, linen/wool boucle’, and my least favorite, a flower-embroidered pale yellow version that took the feminine theme a little over the top. Maria Uggla, the Color & Trim designer explained, “I took my inspiration from home interior design.”

A unique rear seating system allows for increased storage. The rear seats cushions can be folded out of the way like cinema seats, passengers simply lower the seats when needed.

The rest of the time more floor space is available behind the drivers seat for briefcases, sportsbags or dropping off bags after shopping. An ‘Auto-open’ function is available for occasions when the driver is loaded down with bags, once activated the doors or tailgate open automatically when one stands next to them.

More storage space is included in the center console; a shallow shelf for keys, coins, cell phone, etc. slides back to reveal a bigger compartment, large enough to hold a handbag. Behind this is another compartment for a laptop, a cool box and a wastebasket. With all the emphasis on function and customer needs, the interior design has suffered: it resembles a preliminary model. It is lacking in style, fit and finish, especially in comparison with the VCC from the previous year. Customers in this segment are looking for above all; design flair, contemporary aesthetics and exceptional quality.

Extraordinarily high expectations were generated by the pre-show hype concerning this project. Wouldn’t it have been better to have presented a really stunning concept car and then, at the end of the presentation, brought out the 6 managers and 3 designers responsible for the project… who just happened to be women?

Tech Spec

First seen Geneva 2004

Design director Peter Horbury
Project manager design Maria Widell Christiansen
Project manager YCC Eva-Lisa Andersson
Exterior design Anna Rosen
Interior design Camilla Palmertz and Cynthia Charwick
Colour & trim Elna Holmberg and Maria Uggla