Car designer Thomas Ingenlath returns to Volvo’s payroll as the brand prepares to introduce the EX60

Car design great name Thomas Ingenlath returns to Volvo’s payroll as head of design.

The German man who designed the appearance of cars that Finns are also familiar with will start his job in February. The sign tells you in his announcement on the matter.

Ingenlath was previously at Volvo in 2012–2017. Before that, he worked at Volkswagen. After leaving Volvo, he managed the electric car brand Polestar and acted as an advisor to Chinese manufacturers.

Ingenlath’s signature is, for example, the long V90 station wagon Volvo familiar from taxi stands.

Volvo’s there is a bench game going on at the top of the board, where old conkers are hired back to keep the ship afloat.

Last year, a Swede returned as CEO of the brand Håkan Samuelsson, who led the brand from 2012 to 2022. He was already on his way to retirement until he was called up for a two-year term. With this information, the brand is looking for a longer-term follower.

Volvo struggles between the electrification of traffic and the tightening of trade policy. It sold well internationally last year 700,000 carswhere there is a decrease of seven percent compared to the previous year.

Divers technical problems have plagued some of its electric cars. Composting is embarrassing for a 99-year-old car brand.

“It would be so wrong to throw everything (heritage) away. We have to find a way to transfer the long history and values ​​to the present,” Ingenlath commented on his return to the news agency Reuters.

ME: yes the brand’s first registrations, i.e. sales of new cars in practice, fell by almost 16 percent between January and November of last year.

Association of European Automobile Manufacturers statistics not yet available for December. According to the brand’s own statement, global sales picked up around Christmas.

In Finland, first registrations fell by 25 percent in a year. Volvo was still the fourth most popular car brand with a good eight percent market share. It will work out Automotive information center of the figures.

Volvo’s this year’s most important launch will take place in a couple of weeks. It is an SUV with the model name EX60.

This is common in Finland of the XC60 model fully electric version. There are approximately 40,000 gasoline and diesel cousins ​​of the car in the vehicle register.

“Track anxiety is one of the key things we want to overcome,” the head of the car’s development program Akhil Krishnan stated to Reuters.

Range anxiety means the fear of running out of battery in an electric car while driving. The new one is said to be able to travel about 800 kilometers on a single charge.

The EX60 enters the midst of fierce competition, as it faces challengers in the second wave of mid-size electric SUVs from Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

From the Nordic point of view, the car has one geopolitical trump card: The car is built in Sweden, even though Volvo’s main owner, Geely, is in China.

The EX60 is already in such a ready condition that design director Ingenlath hardly has any influence on its appearance anymore.