Many of us remember the great Saab Aero X concept and the time when Saab had the potential to go in a completely different direction. You will admit, based on the Saab Aero X concept many of us have seen a glorious future for our favorite Swedish cars.
To remind you, the Saab Aero X was presented at the 2006 Salon International de l’Auto as a concept car and indicated the directions in which the development and design of future Saab cars are going. This beautiful concept made entirely of carbon fiber was very light, and on the other hand equipped with a powerful twin-turbo 2.8l V6 engine that provided as much as 400HP on pure ethanol. All this, along with the incredible aerodynamics of the model, enabled the concept to reach 100km/h in less than 5 seconds.
In terms of design, behind the whole project was Anthony Lo, the man we are talking about today, and at that time he was the Director of Advanced Design at General Motors Europe. After this position, Anthony moved to a similar position in Renault, to the position of Vice President of Exterior Design.
As it turned out, Saab’s influence on him was great, so Saab Aero X experienced its reincarnation in Renault as a concept called Renault Trezor.
As you can see in the picture and in this blog post in particular, the similarity between these two concepts is obvious and we can see that a large number of the same solutions have been applied to both concepts (i.e. transferred from Saab Aero X models to Trezor). However, this is not today’s topic, but a new transfer in the top design management sphere.
The news that Anthony Lo from Renault is moving to Ford appeared on numerous car web portals today. This designer actually has a very rich career, because after his graduation from the Royal College of Art Vehicle Design program, Lo began his career at Lotus in England, and then he moved to Audi. And then Mercedes-Benz before taking his last position with General Motors – where Saab Aero X was practically the cornerstone of his work. After Renault, here it is now at Ford.
Moray Callum, global design head at Ford, a likable Scotsman is retiring after 20 years at Ford and will be replaced by Anthony Lo. According to numerous media outlets, there is no car designer who has not heard of Moray and his work. Anthony Lo is a world-class design leader and is not anonymous, so they certainly expect a lot from him at Ford. However, its design style will have to adapt to the American market and the taste of the average American car buyer.
Here is what Anthony said on this occasion: “With the speed of evolving technologies and expectations, I believe cars will change more in the next decade than they have in the last century,” Lo said in a statement. “Leading this change at Ford is a dream job for any car designer, and we’re going to embrace this era with open minds, ingenuity and breakthrough design solutions.”
Certainly, Ford as a brand is nothing new for him, he met Ford cars in his native Hong Kong, and a little later in England and in continental Europe. It remains to be seen what this change will bring to the design of future Ford cars (and whether we will, in some future Ford car, see the outlines of a Saab).
