The Volvo YCC will be the public relations coup of the New York International Auto Show next month if its debut at the recent Geneva show is any guide. The reason is easy to understand. For an old-fashioned metal-bashing industry dominated by men, any car created entirely by women is bound to be of special interest.
Executives of Volvo's rivals sniped that excluding men from the design amounted to discrimination, but the Swedish automaker insists that the YCC makes good business sense.
The role of women in society is a matter of considerable public debate in Sweden. Despite the country's egalitarian reputation, its large industrial groups have virtually no women on their management boards. Yet, a fifth of the Volvo Car Corp's 27,000 employees worldwide are women, the company says, including nearly a quarter of its research-and-development personnel.
PHOTO: AP
"We are part of a car industry dominated by men, wanting to attract a growing number of women buyers," said Hans-Olov Olsson, president of Volvo.
The idea behind YCC -- short for Your Concept Car -- sprang from a women's advisory committee created at Volvo in the fall of 2001. A year later, the committee was given approval for a team of nine women to design and build a concept car to be unveiled at this year's Geneva auto show.
"If you expected good old Volvo to bring you a boxy car in pink with lots of child safety seats, you'd be wrong," Olsson said.
The team came up with a coupe with two gullwing doors and some clever ideas on visibility, simplicity and practicality. The car will not be sold in this form, but Henrik Otto, Volvo's design director, said some aspects of it will go into cars that reach consumers.
Some features could be seen as cliches about female expectations and tastes: a sealed hood that can be removed only at the dealership, an electronic self-parking device, flowery seat covers and hollowed-out headrests that accommodate ponytails.
But Volvo rejects the criticism, pointing out that automatic parking and sealed engine compartments are being tested by other automakers.
Olsson quoted Marti Barletta, an American marketing expert on women's buying patterns, as saying: "If you meet the expectations of women, you exceed the expectations of men."
The YCC project was led by Camilla Palmertz.
"This is not a car just for women," she said. "This is Your Concept Car."
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