Ford, Volvo Introduce New Leaders for Design Teams

Vehicle designs at both Ford and Volvo will both be under new supervision starting May 1 with the announcement of two key staff movements. Peter Horbury (pictured), the executive director for Ford design in North America, will take over as Volvo’s vice president of design, while Moray Callum, currently director of design for Ford cars in North America, will fill Horbury’s vacancy. Both men have hugely influenced vehicle designs at almost every brand owned by Ford Motor Company since the 1990s, will most likely continue to produce stunning designs in their new roles. Both moves come as a direct result of the brief and unexpected departure of former Volvo design chief, Stephen Mattin, who Ford is saying left to pursue other opportunities. Horbury’s new role at Volvo comes during a period where Ford has announced that it has put Volvo up for sale and may soon announce potential buyers.

After years of being known for boring, boxy designs, Volvo managed to overhaul its image in the 1990s thanks to designs inspired by Horbury. He almost singlehandedly was responsible for the rejuvenation of Volvo’s brand image and designed vehicles such as the Volvo XC90 and the Volvo C30 before moving up the ladder. In 2002, Horbury moved to head designer at what was then known as Ford’s Premier Auto Group (PAG) which consisted of Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin and Volvo, and by 2004 he had moved up to the position he currently holds at Ford. Since 2004, Horbury has been responsible for important Ford Motor Company vehicles such as the Ford Fusion with the three-bar chrome grille and the Lincoln MKR concept which has given way to a new design language at Lincoln. Ford vehicles influenced by Horbury’s designs include the 2009 Ford Flex, 2009 Lincoln MKS, 2010 Ford Taurus and the 2010 Lincoln MKT – all vehicles critically important to Ford’s return to prominence.

Like Horbury’s storied past at multiple Ford design positions, Callum also has a stellar record of vehicles designs from another company controlled by Ford – Mazda. Callum started with Ford Motor Company in 1988 and moved to the North American design team in 1995 helping to design the 1998 Ford F-Series Super Duty. In 2005, he was appointed to lead Mazda’s global design team and helped create popular Mazda vehicles such as the 2003 Mazda MAZDA3, 2005 Mazda MX-5 Miata, the 2007 Mazda CX-7 and Mazda CX-9 which happened to snag one of the most prestigious awards in the automotive industry by being named the 2008 North American Truck of the Year. With vehicles like that under his belt and advanced new technologies in Ford’s pipeline, the future for the Blue Oval should be an exciting one.