Volvo Concept Estate revealed

February 27, 2014

One of the highlights of the upcoming Geneva International Motor Show is sure to be Volvo’s new Concept Estate.

Its striking three-door coupé-estate body style recalls previous Volvo models, in particular the 1970s 1800ES and later 480. Unfortunately though it seems the Concept Estate isn’t intended for production. Rather, Volvo is saying the focus should be on the cabin, as it offers a better foretaste of the brand’s design direction.

With its four seats, woven fabric headlining and seatbacks, orange wool carpets, waxed wood trim and copper details, the idea was to recreate the ambience of a Swedish living room. While that sounds like an Ikea-inspired cliché, the overall effect works well. It certainly proves that car interiors don’t always have to be monochrome.

Careful attention has also been paid to the dashboard layout. To avoid the usual plethora of buttons and switches, most of the Concept Estate’s controls have been moved to a single central touchscreen which works in conjunction with a digital instrument display.

Volvo is in a position to exploit a fresh niche with the Concept Estate. In the current market, that alone should be a good enough reason to go ahead and build it.