Volvo Cars with Two Exciting Additions to Global Design Team

Volvo Cars has recently welcomed two exciting new additions to its global design team, with Claudia Braun and Thomas Stovicek joining the company’s design operations.

Claudia Braun joined Volvo Cars from Daimler Benz and is the company’s new Vice President of Colour and Material Design. In this role she is responsible for the strategic direction in the area of colours and interior materials for both the Volvo and Polestar brands.

Claudia Braun has a longstanding track record in premium car design. At Daimler, she was responsible for colour and trim design for the Mercedes, AMG and Maybach brands, while she also played a significant role in colour and trim design at Porsche earlier in her career.

Thomas Stovicek joined Volvo Cars from Facebook two years ago and was recently picked to lead Volvo Cars’ user experience (UX) and interaction design operations.

In this role he oversees the development of every digital interaction that customers have with the Volvo brand and the company, be it in their car, via the Volvo Cars website or via an app. Mr Stovicek recently led the work on the soon-to-be-launched update of the Volvo Cars website.

“Volvo is the most stylish and sustainable brand. It is a perfect match to my vision of Scandinavian sustainable design and a responsible way of life,” said Claudia Braun.

"I'm really excited to be working at Volvo Cars right now," added Thomas Stovicek. "The automotive industry is really going through a transformation, and new technologies and processes will allow for new types of products and services to be built for our customers and constant improvement. People’s expectations about what cars can be will change.”

The Volvo Cars Design department, having transformed the look of Volvo Cars’ portfolio and rejuvenated the Volvo brand in recent years, is now focusing on future design opportunities created by the company’s move towards electrified and ultimately autonomous cars.

Over the past decade, the department has been an important factor in establishing Volvo Cars as one of the world’s leading premium car brands.

The XC90 large SUV, launched in 2014, was the first model to introduce Volvo’s modern design language. It set the tone for all subsequent new 90, 60 and 40 Series cars, based on the SPA and CMA modular vehicle architectures that allow for truly premium design proportions.

All three SUVs in the range won prestigious Car of the Year awards in North America, Asia and Europe, demonstrating the success of Volvo’s new design language.