Volvo FH Wins Design Award

The new Volvo FH has won a prestigious design award at BMW Welt in Munich. The iF awards have been running since 1953 and are recognised the world over as a seal of quality in design. The Volvo FH won the award for category 1: Transportation Design and Special Vehicles. This was one of 17 categories, only featuring the very best in international design. The demanding award criteria included quality of design, degree of innovation, functionality, environmental impact and safety. iF jury chairman, Prof. Fritz Frenkler, praised the other entries for consistently high quality and a real flair for innovation and design among the shortlisted manufacturers.

Volvo's design director, Rikard Orell, welcomed the award and said that it represented an acknowledgement of the years of hard work, creativity and innovation that went into developing the Volvo FH. The new truck has both passive and active safety systems, better handling, excellent ergonomics and new fuel-saving features. The design ethos of the Volvo FH was to continue the Volvo heritage but push the boundaries of truck manufacture. According to Mr Orell, more focus was placed on design and emotional aspects of the Volvo FH, areas not normally a priority in truck design. Rikard says that Volvo looked at every feature line, function, angle, curve and surface material to ensure the creation of a cohesive truck. This has resulted in a vehicle that is immensely practical but also emotionally satisfying to own and drive. The truck, says Rikard, is the perfect example of form and function working together, with no conflict between the two.

When building the new Volvo FH, the design team was briefed to keep the distinctive personality and dynamic attitude of the existing FH but highlight the better efficiency and heightened quality of the new model. The design language is similar to that of some car manufacturers, such as Ford's 'Kinetic Design' look. This is meant to make it look as if the truck is moving, even when it is stationary. The Volvo FH also has an aggressive stance, with a profile that looks as if it might be leaning forward and straining at the leash to be on its way. This agile appearance is no accident. It is designed to appeal to prospective operators by looking as if the truck is eager to get on with the work in hand. Volvo also had a winner in another iF category, with the Volvo Construction Equipment division landing an award for the ECR88D excavator.

It has been a successful time for Volvo of late. The Volvo FH also won the 2014 International Truck of the Year award, with its innovative cab, advanced maintenance features and hi-tech driveline all singled out for praise by the judges. The company has also won a prize for the best truck telematics system for the company's Remote Diagnostics tools, which allow for proactive diagnostics and the forward planning of repairs and maintenance. The Volvo FH was back on the red carpet to collect the Red Dot design award and also won a gong for its product launch marketing campaign. Part of that campaign was a stunt by Jean-Claude Van Damme, where he balanced between two racing Volvo FH trucks. The Dynamic Steering system that made this stunt possible also got a quality innovation award from the Swedish Institute for Quality.