We’d say it started with the second XC90, introduced in 2014 and still going strong in style to this day; which was designed by Thomas Ingenlath, who has now been announced to return to Volvo as Chief Design Officer. That should excite Volvo fans, and, frankly, those who just like nice cars: in addition to the XC90, the German was responsible for the smaller XC40, the fantastic-looking S90 and V90 duo, plus the VW XL1, the original Skoda Yeti and the first Skoda Superb in a previous life. While still part of Volvo, Polestar also had Ingenlath write the 1 and 2. They’re all great pieces of car design in their own way; he knows what he is doing with the colored pencils, Ingenlath does, and of course he also knows Volvo well.
To be honest, he’s never been far away; his most recent work was as a design consultant at Geely, owner of Volvo and part of Polestar, where he was CEO from 2017 to 2024. Ingenlath replaces Nicholas Groenenthal, who now becomes Volvo’s Head of Design Americas. He added: “I am happy to return to Volvo Cars. Design is fundamental to what Volvo stands for. I look forward to working closely with the teams within the company to develop cars that are distinctive, relevant and true to the Volvo brand.”
What exactly that will be is not clear at this point, although Volvo has pledged to have “net-zero greenhouse gas emissions” by 2040. This will obviously require a lot of new EVs, hopefully not all of them SUVs. Imagine what a Polestar 1-style car could be with a pure electric powertrain. No doubt Ingenlath has some ideas about what’s to come that we’re really excited to see. After all, this is the man who made the Volvo Estate sexy; every design job after that will be a piece of cake…
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