The design inspiration for Lynk & CO’s very first model
Name: Peter Horbury
Title: Geely Auto executive vice president of design
Main challenge: Nurturing a fresh generation of designers at Geely and Lynk & CO
- “A strong and distinctive face is more significant for the Chinese consumer than for a European one.”
- “We put the daytime running lights on the top of the fender, and we kept headlamps in the grille, but hidden.”
- “The wheels are large, the overhangs are brief, the entire profile is streamlined.”
- “Chinese customers want to demonstrate off. I’m coaxed that that these color inserts are much better looking than tons of chrome.”
GOTHENBURG, Sweden — Peter Horbury has worked on uncountable projects during his 40-plus years as a car designer, but he says his most latest undertaking — bringing Geely’s Lynk & CO to life — was “amazingly challenging” and “truly unique.”
Horbury and his team determined that Lynk & CO’s very first model, the one SUV, should combine the linear look of a Jeep with the sculpted, sporty features of a Porsche. They liked the result so much that they will extend what Horbury calls “the best of both worlds” to Lynk & CO’s entire lineup.
Horbury, 67, has been Geely’s head of design since two thousand eleven after holding top jobs with Volvo and Ford’s Premier Automotive Group.
He met here at the site of the Lynk & CO one unveiling with Automotive News Europe Editor Luca Ciferri.
Q: How would you describe the Lynk & CO project?
A: Exceptionally challenging and a truly unique chance. Designers always say they embark from a clean sheet of paper, but it is never truly like that because they have references in the family, in the history of the brand and in the previous models. Here it was truly a clean sheet of paper.
What was the brief for Lynk & CO?
The fresh range should be design-driven, look Northern European, stand out and be led by a compact SUV.
Where did designers look for inspiration?
Instead of looking at a specific brand, we attempted to combine the two predominant looks found in SUVs. There’s a very linear, more constructed look: Think of Jeeps and Land Rovers. Then there is the totally organic, sculpted, sporty look like Porsche and Infiniti. We attempted to get the best of both worlds in one design language, and we’ve got something fresh. We also felt that the combination of those two design languages could serve us on the entire range of cars.
How do you divide your time among Geely, Lynk & CO and Volvo?
I don’t touch Volvo at all. I have enough on my plate with Geely in China and the Lynk & CO cars here in Europe. My family is in Gothenburg, where I live. I spend one week a month in Shanghai, developing about thirty fresh projects at the same time.
Because you don’t work directly with Volvo anymore, how did you ensure that the Lynk & CO one compact SUV wouldn’t look too much like its Volvo sibling model, the XC40?
[Zhejiang Geely Holding and Volvo Chairman] Li Shufu and [Volvo CEO] Hakan Samuelsson witnessed both ranges regularly. We invited Hakan at an early stage telling, “Look, you better come down and see what we’re doing.” He was delighted, and he reassured us that what we were doing was nothing like what Volvo was doing.
How many people do you lead?
About 400. That includes toughly one hundred seventy each at Geely in Shanghai and at Lynk & CO in Gothenburg. Then we have smaller satellite studios in Barcelona and Los Angeles to create advanced ideas for the two brands as well as the London Taxi Company [which is also possessed by Zhejiang Geely Holding].
How would you describe your job?
As I head toward the finale of my career, after forty two years in car design, I need to make sure that people are there to proceed the work. I have to give them more and more responsibility to do that. The key is to create the best teams possible and give them the mandate to get on with the job. I set the vision and I don’t micromanage. I don’t overcontrol.
A good design director should not be a design dictator. I’m not the source of all ideas. But as I’m going to be held responsible at the end of the day, I need to see what we’re doing.
Lynk & CO models should appeal to Chinese and European customers. What are the main differences?
A strong and distinctive face is more significant for the Chinese consumer than for a European one. For example, we put the daytime running lights on the top of the fender and we kept headlamps in the grille, but hidden. The wheels are large, the overhangs are brief, the entire profile is streamlined. Thanks to design, the model’s perceived value is well above its price.
In a few words, sum up Lynk & CO’s design.
Bold and attractive, but uncomplicated.
Uncomplicated? What about the color inserts on the side and front? Aren’t they purely decoration?
Chinese customers want to display off. I’m coaxed that these color inserts are much better looking than tons of chrome.
Name: Peter Horbury
Title: Geely Auto executive vice president of design
Main challenge: Nurturing a fresh generation of designers at Geely and Lynk & CO