VOLVO XC90

Horbury calls this “the pinnacle of the new look”. Volvo had never done an SUV and many thought it never should. But the brand had always had a strong following in the US and demand there won the day. Horbury’s team interviewed women about design features and discovered that many saw SUVS as “gigantic threatening macho machines”. They wanted safe cars, even muscular cars, but macho was bad. “We gave our design strength,” says Horbury, “but not too much. It was confident but ◊