Peter Horbury Leaves Ford and Returns to Volvo

Big changes taking place in Ford land these days as Peter Horbury is leaving his position as Executive Director of Design to become Vice President of Design at Volvo, which after all is part of the same American company, but these are just technicalities.

At Volvo, where he will replace Steve Mattin, he will lead the next stage of the development of Volvo Cars' design language, as a press release informed today.

Mr. Horbury is in fact returning to the Swedish manufacturer, as he was Design Director of Volvo Car Corporation between 1991 and 2002, leading design teams in Sweden, Spain and California.

Back then, he was in charge of creating and implementing the new design language in all 1990s Volvo models, including the S80 and the XC90 SUV. Before his first Volvo experience, he did designing work for Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover.

"We are very happy to have Peter back on board here at Volvo. He will play an important role in taking our Scandinavian design language to the next level and ensure we continue to develop attractive cars for the premium market" says Stephen Odell, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation.

"I'm extremely pleased to be back in Sweden and the great brand of Volvo. Volvo has a very strong design identity and it will be a privilege to work with the team to develop the Scandinavian design language in future products, and contribute to the turn-around of the company", says Peter Horbury.

Born in Alnwick, Northumberland, UK, Horbury received his master's degree in Automotive Design from the Royal College of Art in 1974 and an undergraduate degree from Newcastle-upon-Tyne College of Art and Industrial Design in 1972. He was named Autocar's Designer of the Year in 1998. During his 35-year career, he has been involved in the design of more than 60 cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles.