Jan 17, 2002

Volvo Wins Concept Car Award

The Volvo Safety Concept Car (SCC) has been awarded the 2002 Concept Car of the Year award presented at the AutoWeek Design Forum held at the Cobo Conference/Exhibition Center in concert with the North American International Auto Show currently underway in Detroit. The SCC was selected from among dozens of leading concept styles and vehicles unveiled during the past year at auto shows around the world.

The main theme of the Volvo Safety Concept Car (SCC) is "superior vision." The car also employs a variety of technologies that enhance personal security, improve passive safety systems, and provide evidence that Volvo Cars is at the very leading edge in the development of technology for safer driving. The vehicle's night vision technology was the basis for the system appearing in the company's new XC90, which will soon go into production.

A distinguished panel of judges participated in the selection: Akira Fujimoto of Car Styling magazine; Professor Ken Greenley of the Royal College of Art; Gordon Murray of McLaren Cars Ltd.; Chuck Jordan, retired GM design chief; and, Chris Wright, correspondent of Automotive News Europe. Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura and actress Elizabeth Taylor were inexplicably left off the panel this year.

"All the vehicles featured are the wave of the future," said Peter Brown, Automotive News executive editor and associate publisher. "The brilliant designers and engineers who see new possibilities for the future are just awe-inspiring." Of course, he lives in Detroit.

"At Volvo, safety is a core value. It is therefore gratifying to receive this prestigious recognition, because the SCC points the way to a new dimension in research and development into car safety," said Hans-Olov Olsson, president and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation. "The concept not only provides a glimpse of where we're headed, but also shows that safety can be packaged in an exciting design."