Volvo Concept Coupe

Despite being described as a future version of Volvo's legendary P1800 coupe (and taking inspiration from that car), the petrol hybrid Concept Coupe is unlikely to reach production itself, but does show future design directions (as early as next year in some instances) for Volvo's passenger cars and SUVs.

"The Volvo Concept Coupé is no futuristic dream car. It is designed to demonstrate the capability of our new architecture: the confident stance, the proportions and the most prominent design signatures. Even though the all-new XC90 is an entirely different type of car, you will recognise the connection instantly when it is revealed next year," says Ingenlath.

"Using elements from the P1800 exterior and interior has nothing to do with being retro. We are using these subtle links to a glorious past to create a future where sheer beauty becomes a recognised part of Volvo's identity. That journey starts with Concept Coupe."

Drive-E performance hybrid engine
Powering the Concept Coupe is two-litre high-performance Drive-E petrol engine with a supercharger and turbo. The petrol engine is teamed with an electric motor on the rear axle Combined output is a claimed 400bhp and over 600Nm of torque.

The petrol plug-in hybrid driveline comes from Volvo's new four-cylinder Drive-E engine family. Volvo claim boosted performance from the electrical elements of the Drive-E design will take power figures from the compact 4-cylinder into V8 territory.

Concept Coupe Exterior
Overall style and proportions are reminiscent of recent BMW, Aston Martin and Jaguar designs in certain elements, with the 'long hood, short deck' design a deliberate design touch on Ingenlath's part. The low roof, long bonnet and strong profile give the blue-grey Concept Coupe more of a GT stance, accentuated by the 21-inch wheels.

Upfront, the grille is prominent, while the DRLs (Daytime Running Lights) are a distinctive T shape, with large air ducts below. Along with the restyled rear lights, these are tipped to feature on Volvo production cars in the near future.

"The face is new, but it also carries more than 85 years of Volvo heritage with great pride. We are still working with the final interpretation of the grille and the iron mark and this will be revealed together with the XC90 next year," says Ingenlath.

Concept Coupe Interior
Handcrafted elements, such as the leather instrument panel, hand-cut crystal, inlays made of naturally aged wood and the dark blue woven carpets are blended with machined metal detailing inside, with colours picking up on the subtle steel finish of the exterior.

The Concept Coupe's large, portrait-format control centre console interacts with an adaptive digital display and head-up display in front of the driver. Volvo say this is more human-centric than existing driver information control panels.

SPA - the future of Volvo design
Developed in-house for Volvo Cars only, the Scalable Product Architecture is claimed by the company to offer greater design flexibility than previous cross-brand platforms.

"The new Volvo Concept Coupé reveals how we could shape our cars from now on. Free from the superficial surface excitement of other car brands, we add emotional value to the Volvo brand with the calm, confident beauty that is the hallmark of Scandinavian design," says Ingenlath.

The Scalable Product Architecture is also being prepared for completely autonomous driving. The first features with autonomous steering to avoid accidents and make driving more comfortable will be introduced in 2014 - and Volvo Cars' aim is to have cars with fully autonomous technology out on the roads before 2020.