It may sound like a stretch to call a two-door SUV a pretty car, but in the case of Volvo’s newly-revealed XC Coupé that just made its debut in Detroit, I think it really stands true much more so than you would expect.
Even if the premise of it being inspired by sports equipment doesn’t sound too exciting against the industry trend of mimicking the silhouette of felines, the end product you see pictured below shows a lot of promise for all of Volvo’s future design efforts, if they choose to continue along its route.
However, they don’t promote it as a pretty face, but rather as the usual lifestyle proposal for the outdoorsman and woman; it’s designed “to ensure that they make it back in one piece, they prefer high-performance equipment that offers the ultimate sense of freedom and protection,” said Thomas Ingenlath, Senior Vice President of Volvo’s design department.
He added that it’s “perfectly in tune with this active lifestyle. Its capability and protection is cleverly integrated into the sophisticated looks. Concept XC Coupé is ready and willing to bring you into the adventure zone and back.”
Were you to put this new XC Coupé next to the Concept Coupé, you’d need glasses with the wrong diopter to say they are not similar, yet the newly-revealed study has a very different character with noticeably more pronounced flanks, the extra ground clearance and the crossover-esque cladding around the wheel arches and bumpers (the front bumper under-guard, the one that stands out because it’s orange is actually made out of rubber).
Of course, the concept previews the brand’s future design language, as we already knew, and more specifically, the styling that is to be adopted by the next XC90. If it’s anything like this in the looks department, and doesn’t get toned down, the competition should be very afraid.
By Andrei Nedelea
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