Peter Horbury
Peter D. Horbury (27 January 1950 – 29 June 2023) was a British car designer who was Senior Vice President of Design at Lotus. He is widely known for his design work for Volvo and worked in a variety of roles in the automotive industry, including as Executive Design Director, Americas for Ford between 2004 and 2009, and Executive Vice President of Design at Geely Auto between 2011 and 2021. He was named UK magazine Autocar's Designer of the Year in 1998 and during his 40+ year career was actively involved in the design of more than 50 cars as well as trucks, buses, and motorcycles.
Background
Born on 27 January 1950 in
Career
Early career
Horbury started his career at Chrysler UK and then spent some time at Volvo in the Netherlands, working on the
Volvo Cars
Horbury is widely known for leading the revival of the Volvo brand during his eleven years from 1991 as Design Director. Arriving after the 1992 Volvo 850 had been styled, Horbury made an impact with the 1992 Volvo ECC Concept that would influence Volvo design for years to come. He was instrumental in moving the company beyond their traditional boxy look with a new design language for the brand.[4][5] This new look was characterised by distinctive shoulder lines that ran the length of the car, more curved surfaces, rounded noses, and softer, less utilitarian interiors. He contributed to many designs including the Mitsubishi Carisma related 1995 S40 and V40, the sporty 1997 Volvo C70, which was engineered in collaboration with TWR, closely followed by the 1998 S80. He also contributed to the remaining line up with the 2000 V70 station wagon, the 2001 S60, the 2003 XC90 SUV, and the 2004 S40 and V50. He also oversaw the 1998 facelift of the Volvo 850 series which transformed them into the Volvo S70 and V70 series. During this stint he also worked on the 2006 C70, 2006 V70, 2006 S80, with the last Horbury Volvo of this era being the 2006 C30.[6] Ex-Mercedes-Benz designer Steve Mattin assumed the responsibility of Design Director of Volvo in 2005.
Ford
In 2002, Horbury was made head of all of Ford's Premier Automotive Group design studios which included Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, and Volvo. With talented designers in charge of each of those brands' design, Horbury had little to do[4] and in January 2004 was promoted to Ford of America as Executive Design Director of all Ford's American brands, reporting to Ford's group vice president of Design, J Mays. Mays explained the decision:
- "We tapped Peter to lead our North American design team for two key reasons: First, he brings to this team nearly three decades of experience as a strong designer and an even better leader. Second, North America remains our most profitable market, and that’s where we need to invest our top design talent. We are more heavily investing in refining the design DNA for this market’s products. So, naturally, I want this team to have even more power to get the job done."[5]
Horbury ran a staff of 800 including
Return to Volvo Cars
In May 2009, Horbury returned to Volvo as Vice President, Design,
Geely Auto
In late 2011, Horbury was appointed Senior Vice President of Design for Geely with the responsibility of overseeing the design of all Geely brands and establishing a network of Geely design studios around the world.
Lotus Cars
After a decade leading all of the Geely brands' designs, and at the age of 71, Horbury stepped back from his Geely role and joined Lotus as Senior Vice President Design.[13] In this newly created role, Horbury oversaw the activities of existing Lotus designers Russell Carr and Ben Payne, and their respective studios in Norfolk and Coventry, forming a vital link into China and the wider Geely design network.[14]
Death
Horbury died on 29 June 2023, at the age of 73.[15][16]
References
- ^ Uzel, Susan, The Yorkshire Post, "Profile - Peter Horbury: Vice president’s lifelong hobby of making cars better by design", 29 Nov 2011, [1], accessed 1 May 2020
- ^ Old Edwardians, Form 1(4) 1961/62 (photo), accessed 6 February 2007
- ^ a b Vasilash, Gary S. Autofieldguide, "Peter Horbury - Changing the Face of Ford", 2004, [2], accessed 1 May 2020.
- ^ a b c Motor Trend, "People: Peter Horbury – Ford Design Director", 3 May 2005, [3], accessed 1 May 2020
- ^ a b Ford Press Release, "Ford Names Peter Horbury to Oversee North American Brands", 10 Dec 2003, [4], accessed 1 May 2020
- Edmunds.com, "First Drive: Volvo C30", 12 Dec 2006, [5], accessed 1 May 2020
- ^ Ravenscroft, Tom, Dezeen, "There is "no stopping" China's car design industry says Peter Horbury", 9 May 2019, [6], accessed 1 May 2020
- ^ Paukert, Chris, Autoblog.com, "Peter Horbury returns to head Volvo design; Moray Callum in as Ford's design chief", 1 Apr 2009, [7], accessed 1 May 2020
- ^ Paukert, Chris, Autoblog.com, "Volvo design chief Steve Mattin leaves company", 27 Mar 2009, [8], accessed 1 May 2020.
- ^ "How British designer Peter Horbury shaped Lynk&Co's look". Autocar. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ Volvo Cars, "Peter Horbury, Vice President Design, Volvo Car Corporation appointed to new position within Geely Group", 28 Oct 2011, [9], accessed 1 May 2020
- ^ Geely, "Peter Horbury, Executive Vice President of Design", [10], accessed 1 May 2020
- ^ McLachlan, James (6 September 2021). "Stefan Sielaff to head up Geely design; Peter Horbury moves to Lotus". Car Design News. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ Bird, Guy (14 January 2022). "Peter Horbury explains new Lotus design role and future product". Car Design News. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ Peter Horbury, who transitioned Volvo from boxy to curvy, remembered as 'giant in car design'
- ^ Bird, Guy (2 July 2023). "In memoriam: Peter Horbury (1950-2023)". Car Design News. Retrieved 3 July 2023.