Top 5 Brands regarding Automotive Design between 2015 - 2020. Brand #5

Personal opinion on the top 5 established automotive companies that are crafting their brand trough Design. 

This is not only about "The visual appeal" of their final products at all. Is more related to their Design process and the "weight" of Design in their corporate decision making agenda..

5

Volvo / Polestar

The Swedish marquee is now part of a Chinese conglomerate and maybe that's why they want more "Swedish" taste than ever before.

When you try to catch up against brands like Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz it's very easy to fall in the extremes of your design identity: very over-styled or very generic. Genesis, the brand backed by a behemoth industrial South Korean conglomerate is having difficult days to build a recognizable brand even having access to plenty of resources.

But Volvo/Polestar nailed it by delivering products with a very clear stand on their design cues. 

And there is more to look at: Their interior proposals are gaining both praise and recognition not only by the way they look, but by the comfortable experience of using it.

In the innovative side, the Volvo autonomous concept is not a pure Science Fiction based proposal, it's one of the most balanced exercises if we talk about autonomous vehicles using an electrified platform as a propulsion system. Even to be considered is the fact that they are not targeting other car brands: their concept is based on being an alternative to private flights within short distances, a big market entirely novel for a new stream of income and quietly an smart approach for the future.

And Polestar has taken a very smart path to boost their profile: they are building a community through design. Using social media as an stronghold, Polestar is gaining traction by offering to look, hear and showcase design proposals of the automotive/transportation design fans around the world.

It could be a temporary solution, but by now is helping hundreds of designers to polish their skills.

A Design team that encourages women to be essential to the entire organization, a recognizable brand by mastering their design cues and and promoting initiatives to make a positive impact in their fans are very few reasons why Volvo / Polestar is thriving. 

Those cloudy days seem to be part of the past while they still working on delivering better equipped vehicles and transitioning to an electrified world. 

We will jump to the Brand number 4 in the next days, Thank you for the time to read this post !!