Briton to Focus on Design Direction

By: Eric Mayne / The Detroit News

Ricardo Thomas / The Detroit News;Ford Motor Co.

DEARBORN -- Peter Horbury is credited with giving Volvo vehicles their distinctive shoulders. Now he'll shoulder the design load for Ford Motor Co.'s North American product lineup.

In a bid to better focus the automaker's design direction and redistribute the work load flowing from an ambitious product plan -- 65 new vehicles in the next five years -- Horbury will have design responsibility for all Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models.

Horbury will report to J Mays, Ford's group vice president in charge of design, whose own responsibilities expanded with his promotion last summer.

"I'm not walking away from those three brands but I need someone there on a day-to-day basis," Mays said. "He's coming on as sort of a bridge between what was my old position -- vice president-design -- and the existing design directors that we have."

Currently executive director of design for Ford's Premier Automotive Group -- which includes Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin -- Horbury, 53, assumes his new position Jan. 1. His first assignment?

"The No. 1 priority is to get in here and do what we have yet to do with Lincoln, which is get it fixed and get it back up on the road," Mays said.

While demand for Lincoln's trucks -- Navigator and Aviator -- is up 96.7 percent this year, Lincoln's overall sales have tumbled 21 percent. At the same time, Cadillac, Lincoln's revitalized crosstown rival, is on a roll with truck sales up 25.7 percent and car demand rising 8.3 percent.

Ford and Mercury are also struggling with aging car models that have depressed sales this year.

Why choose Horbury, a jocular Brit steeped in the European luxury car market, to oversee design at three American brands?

"He's a fantastic people person and he's a fantastic designer," Mays said. "I don't have to tell you what he's done for Volvo."

Horbury is credited with transforming Volvo's predictable boxy style with its current look, which strives for strength and elegance.

Now he plans immersing himself in the culture of pickups, SUVs and American family cars.

Mays, an American who spent a significant part of his career in Europe as a designer for Audi AG, isn't worried.

"I was an American that did just fine at Audi. He was a Brit that did just fine at Volvo," he said. "Oddly enough, I wasn't really considered American when I came here ... I'm considered part of the furniture now."

Furniture is something Horbury knows about, confessing a Swedish armchair was his inspiration for the shoulder-like curves that grace the rear quarter panels of today's Volvo models.

Patrick Schiavone is one of two such design directors, having responsibility for Ford's sport utility vehicles, pickup truck and commercial vehicle platforms.

"Ten years ago, we had something like four or five directors," Schiavone said. "At any given time, I've got 20 programs. If (Horbury) can take a little bit of pressure off of me, I'll be a happy guy."

Like Mays, Horbury is unfazed by the cultural divide he faces. That's because "outsiders" bring a fresh perspective, he said.

He has also supervised Ford's design studio in California. And before he makes any major moves, Horbury plans to meet with dealers. "We have to know our customers," he said.

It's typical of Horbury's style, said Jan Vulcan, chief engineer for the forthcoming Ford Freestyle, Five Hundred and Mercury Montego.

"He's a good listener," Vulcan said, who worked with Horbury during his 11-year tenure at Volvo. "He can also explain design, why certain lines are good-looking."

Said Mays: "I'm looking forward to a good 10 years together."

And it could be an exciting decade because Horbury is a legendary joker. Having been tricked into eating raw chicken by a group of Japanese journalists, he turned the tables at a PAG event in Frankfurt.

"They were sort of picking at their food," Horbury said. "I told them it was mountain gorilla."

Horbury's PAG post will not be filled after he joins Ford. Each brand's design director will now report to Mays.

-Drew

Swedespeed, Fourtitude, VWvortex, mwerks, SpeedArena, Subdriven, TripleZoom

Well, according to the report there isn't going to be an overall person in charge of PAG. The head of each division will directly report to Mays. I wonder how good that will be.

-Drew