volvo ycc case study

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Proving that it was no longer a man's world, the Volvo YCC was designed by women, for women

It’s interesting that even though Volvo was behind one of the very first concept cars, the Venus Bilo , it’s a company which until the 1980s focused almost exclusively on creating production cars. And even when Volvo did build a concept in the 1980s or beyond, it was generally an early view of a production model or it was a test bed for a new bunch of safety technologies such as a new restraint system or a new type of crash structure.

For example, the ECC of 1992 was effectively an early view of the original S60 and S80, while the VCC was a preview of the 700-Series that would appear in 1982. Indeed, take a look at just about any concept to come from Volvo and it’s been followed at some stage by a production model that looks largely similar. But there has been a notable exception to this rule and that’s the YCC, or the rather awkwardly named Your Concept Car.

The idea behind the YCC cropped up in 2001, when Marti Barletta paid a visit to Volvo. An American expert on female consumer patterns, Barletta suggested that Volvo put together an all-female team to come up with a car that would meet the needs and expectations of women. Intriguingly, her argument went that if they could do this, any male potential customers would be happy as they’re far less demanding than their female counterparts.

By the summer of 2002 the all-women team had been assembled; their task was to create the perfect car for the modern, independent professional woman. By this stage more than half of Volvo’s US buyers were women, and Volvo’s research suggested that women buyers in the premium segment were the most demanding consumers of all; if the company could keep them happy, it could keep anyone happy.

Long before it became fashionable, Volvo adopted a green ethic. As a result, its cars were among the greenest available, even though they had a reputation for being built like tanks with a thirst to suit. So when it came to working out what mechanicals to fit to the YCC, it wasn’t a difficult choice to make; it would fit the five-cylinder PZEV (Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle) petrol unit that was already capable of meeting the world’s most stringent emissions regulations – those of California.

Capable of generating a handy 215bhp, this 2.5-litre unit featured what was then termed ISG, or Integrated Starter-Generator. Since then the technology has generally become known as stop/start or Intelligent Stop and Go (so still ISG). The idea of the technology was that it would switch the engine off when the car came to a halt and when the accelerator was pressed it would automatically set the engine running again.

The engine drove the front wheels via a six-speed semi-automatic gearbox, which meant that the driver could choose the gears manually or could leave the car to do everything, the idea being that in the latter mode the car would be even more frugal thanks to its computer selecting the optimum change-up or change-down points. Those gears were selected through using paddle shifts on either side of the steering wheel – a feature that would become increasingly popular in time, but which was still a rare fitment when the YCC was unveiled.

Also, in a bid to cut fuel consumption at speed, there was height-adjustable suspension. The YCC would lower itself automatically when travelling quickly, but when driving more slowly the car’s ride height could be raised, to negotiate speed bumps or other hazards.

Of course a neat design inside and out was essential for the YCC, but as you’d expect, the designers’ brief was much wider than that. Particular attention had to be paid to things like storage, usability and access. Easy parking, personalisation opportunities and good visibility were important too.

Taking all of these things into account, it was reckoned that gull-wing doors would provide the best method of getting in and out. Naturally there was power assistance, but in an especially neat twist the car would detect when you’d moved alongside it and the door would automatically open for you. So if you had your hands full, you wouldn’t have to put everything down then wrestle with the mechanism.

Ease of parking was taken into account with a park assist programme which would self-park the car thanks to a series of sensors. But it was visibility that was at the fore of much of the interior and exterior design; the driving position and line of vision are crucial for safety and comfort. So when ordering your YCC your whole body would be scanned at the dealership, then the data on your relative proportions (height, leg length, arm length) would be used to define a driving position just for you.

This information would be stored in digital form on your personal key, and once you climbed into the driver’s seat and docked your key in the centre console, the seat, steering wheel, pedals, head restraint and seat belt would all be adjusted automatically.

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• The Inventory

Volvo Already Made The Perfect Transportation Pod 14 Years Ago

The Volvo Your Concept Car, known as the Volvo YCC, was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2004. It was designed entirely by women. It was so practical and perfect that we’re only just catching up with its low maintenance/low hassle transportation idea today.

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The car was ostensibly designed with the needs of female drivers in mind, but the car’s innovations would make owning and operating a car easier for anyone. Take the windshield wiper fluid intake, right next to the gas filling point, on the outside of the car.

Who honestly relishes opening the hood and getting your hands dirty just to refill your wiper fluid? No one, I would humbly submit. Note that these are both capless, as well.

And then there’s the interchangeable interior seats. Who doesn’t want to change up your car interior on the fly, when you’re in the mood? No one, I would humbly submit. (Most of the seat covers could also be run through a washing machine.)

The YCC had its beginnings in late 2001, after Marti Barletta, a consultant, did a series of workshops at the company and observed , “If you meet the expectations of women, you exceed the expectations of men.” Which is true, because men are useless slobs.

The car they ended up designing put an emphasis on visibility, storage, personalization, minimal maintenance, and ease of parking. You couldn’t even open the dang hood, for example, because the car had no hood, because it was designed to not need much maintenance, with an engine going 31,000 miles between oil changes. And the car was painted with dirt-resistant paint, so you wouldn’t have to wash it as often, along with run-flat tires, so you wouldn’t have to change your tire on the side of the road like a chump.

On the inside, the designers took out the handbrake and gear shifter in the center console for more storage.

In the centre console, you find a shallow compartment for keys, mobile phones, coins and other small items. This compartment slides back to reveal a deeper one, big enough for a handbag. Another compartment takes a notebook computer and there is a cool box within reach of the driver’s seat too. A wastepaper basket completes the theme of sheer convenience.

A wastepaper basket! Those should’ve been standard in cars decades ago!

The car also had gullwing doors to make it easier to enter and exit, and the rear seats collapsed to increase storage space, only opening if you need them, like seats at the movie theater.

And we’re not even to the most brilliant part, the “Ergovision” system, as explained here by Volvo:

Your whole body is scanned at the dealership, then the data on your relative proportions (height, leg length, arm length) is used to define a driving position just for you. This is stored in digital form on your personal key unit. Once you get into the driver’s seat and dock your key on the centre console, the seat, steering wheel, pedals, head restraint and seat belt will all be adjusted automatically to suit your build. The result is a recommended fully personalised driving position with the best line of vision for you. If you want to alter the stored position, you can change the settings of the various car components in the system, then store that set of data on your key unit. The system will warn you if your line of vision is wrong by means of the lenticular hologram, which looks like a stylised eye displayed on the A-pillar, between windscreen and door.

More holograms, please.

While you’re sitting in the front seat, you’ll have a good view of the instrument panel, which doesn’t include a tachometer, temperature gauge, oil pressure gauge, or even fuel gauge, because why do you need all that nonsense? Instead, you’ve got a speedometer, a range indicator, and a navigation system. Perfect.

One feature the car had that has become common is a parallel parking assist, in which the car would steer you into the spot while you control the throttle and brakes. What’s under the (non-existent) hood, if you must know? An inline five-cylinder engine making 215 horsepower, which is not the correct amount of horsepower , but certainly enough horsepower.

At this point, though, I’m just listing features, so instead let’s have another look at this beaut:

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Design Review: Volvo YCC concept

By Laura Blossfeld 2015-05-06T21:22:00

Launched in 2004, the Volvo YCC (Your Concept Car) was a landmark in automotive design in that it was created by and all-woman team

I was bemused by the remarks of a few auto industry executives, who were quoted as saying that they found the Volvo YCC was perhaps condescending or even patronising to women. This concept, however, is a serious attempt to conceive and design a car by women for women – and men – the YCC team are convinced that their solution appeals to both genders.

In the seventies, in the infancy of feminism, it was decidedly controversial to point out the differences between men and women. Over the past 10 years, new research has shown marked differentiation in skills and behaviour between the sexes.

“Spatial ability, (judging speed, distance, angles and direction), is located in the right side of the brain for males and is one of their strongest abilities… Research commissioned by a UK defensive driving school showed that men averaged 82% accuracy in reverse parking someone else’s car close to the curb… women scored only 22% accuracy.” Allan Pease in ‘Why Men Don’t Listen, and Women Can’t Read Maps’.

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What Are Automakers Doing for Women? Part III: Volvo Has its Designs on Women

"When you meet the expectations of women, you exceed the expectations of men."

When women's marketing expert Marti Barletta delivered that statement to Volvo employees during a 2001 workshop in Sweden, she inspired the idea for what became "Your Concept Car," or YCC , a car designed by women.

"We were sure [her idea] was right; that's why it served as our guiding light during the car's development," says Camilla Palmertz, a Volvo biomechanical engineer, who teamed with several female colleagues to test and develop the concept.

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Women represent an important market segment for Volvo. In the U.S., Volvo Car's largest global market, women buyers, account for 54 percent of Volvo's sales. In Europe women account for only 14 percent of Volvo's sales, but the company says that figure is rising.

According to Volvo research, female buyers in the "premium" (near luxury) segment, where Volvo competes, want the same things as men when it comes to performance, prestige and style. But women want more than a safe, stylish car that goes fast.

"Her [car design] wish list is longer, which makes her the most demanding of all our customers," says Tatiana Butovitsch Temm, Volvo's YCC communications manager.

Volvo surveys show that women want a car that:

• has plenty of storage
• is easy to park
• has good visibility
• is easy to get in and out of
• can be personalized
• requires minimal maintenance

In 2002, Hans-Olov Olsson, president and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation, green-lighted the YCC project, and the team set out to create a car with all of the above attributes. More than 120 Volvo employees participated in the design, development and production of YCC, but all final decisions were made by nine women project leaders — two project managers, four designers, two technical project managers, and a communications manager — all employees of Volvo Car Corp. in Sweden.

The YCC made its world debut at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show. It features auto-opening gullwing doors (for easy ingress/egress), easy-clean paint, run-flat tires, an exterior washer-fluid filling point, interchangeable and washable seat covers, computerized parking assistance, automatic diagnostics and notification of needed service, a deep storage well between the front seats, a built-in wastebasket, and a customized seating position to give the driver excellent outward visibility.

From Geneva, the YCC team traveled to New York City, Washington, D.C., and Boston's Wellesley College (an all-women's school), before embarking on a worldwide tour that includes Australia, Europe, Asia and, this fall, the Western U.S.

Based on 2,500 exhibit-goers' responses to a survey on which of the YCC's features they like the best, the top five favorites are:

Among women:

• Storage between the front seats
• Run-flat tires
• Easy-clean paint
• Exterior filling point for windshield-washer fluid
• Auto-opening doors
• Storage in the door jams

"Interestingly enough, men and women seem to want the same things," says Butovitsch Temm, "which supports the thesis 'if you meet the expectations of women….'"

Volvo has no plans to put the YCC into production, but the company says many of its features will find their way into future cars (the details of which Volvo won't divulge). The YCC isn't intended to be driven, but to "introduce important automotive ideas to the marketplace and inspire other women — and men — to question traditional business methods and create positive change within organizations," says Butovitsch Temm.

"The YCC is about more than just a car," says Volvo spokesman Stephen Bohannon, who attended the Wellesley College event. "It's about a grassroots effort started by women within a company in a male-dominated industry. Hopefully the YCC project can serve as a beacon, an example for other young women to follow."

Women at the Wheel In the male-dominated auto industry, the idea of granting a group of women free rein to produce a concept car could be perceived as either foolhardy or brilliant. If you asked Volvo Car Corp. CEO Olsson, he'd probably call it smart.

"[The YCC project] is a fantastic opportunity for us," Olsson said at the project's outset. "We can concentrate on the fast-growing group of women customers — without losing the men. Because I'm certain that our male customers will love this concept car."

Judging by the surveys, he was right.

Letting women develop a car is one thing. Putting a woman in charge of your company's largest global market is another. But that's what Olsson did last March when he appointed Anne Belec president and CEO of Volvo Cars of North America, a region that accounts for one-third of Volvo's global sales volume.

"Hans-Olov is very supportive of women, but he didn't appoint me to this position because I'm a woman. He knew I could do the job," says Belec, who spent 18 years in a variety of leadership positions at Ford before joining Volvo as vice president of sales operations in Sweden. "Volvo ensures that the women, and men, who rise to positions of power are completely ready to take on those responsibilities. The company trains and mentors us to ensure we are successful."

So how does it feel to be one of only three women running an automotive brand in the U.S.? (Women also run Hummer and Saturn.) "It feels great," says Belec. "But it's lonely. There aren't enough role models out there."

A Legacy of Listening "Listening to what the customer wants is sound business," says Butovitsch Temm, "and Volvo has a long-standing tradition of listening carefully to what women want."

In the late 1980s, Volvo formed an internal women's reference group of employees (still active today) to test and assess new models in the early stages of development and offer suggestions for improvement. One feature initiated by the group is the color coding of fluid lids under the hood. Today, in every Volvo car, the oil lid is black, the coolant green, the washer fluid blue and the oil dipstick red. In addition, all lids are marked with the same symbols used on the instrument panel.

In the early stages of the XC90's development, Volvo convened a women's focus group in California to provide input on Volvo's first sport-utility vehicle. The women's favorite XC90 features were the split tailgate and the middle seat in the second row that slides forward to put a toddler within easy reach of the front-seat passenger.

Women's influence also led to such improvements as easier-to-fold-away rear seats, easier-to-load trunks, a flush-surfaced steering wheel column (that won't snag women's stockings), and easier-to-push control buttons.

Sending the Right Message Listening to women has helped Volvo make its products more female-friendly. How does the company communicate its female-friendliness to women buyers?

Very subtly. The "Volvo for Life" slogan, for instance, conveys two messages that are especially important to women: This car will protect your life (safety) and this vehicle will last forever (dependability).

Volvo doesn't create ads aimed specifically at women, but then, "Volvo doesn't have to," says Marti Barletta, author of Marketing to Women . "Women are already responsive to its message. Volvo ads have always focused on safety and dependability, two things that women place greater importance on, especially women with kids, than do men."

A Human Approach Volvo doesn't actively recruit women salespeople or dealers. Currently, women account for about 8 percent of Volvo dealership personnel, and about 5 percent of Volvo dealership owners. In the U.S. Volvo has 357 dealerships and 287 dealership owners, 15 of whom are women.

Rather than training dealership personnel to treat women differently, "We encourage Volvo employees to focus on conscience, care and character in all of their endeavors, including how they treat customers," says Marti Eulberg, executive vice president of sales operations for Volvo Cars of North America. "Volvo is a very humanistic company," she says. "People and safety are at the heart of everything we do — and I think that resonates with women."

Volvo dealerships must be doing something right; they ranked above average in J.D. Powers and Associates' 2004 Customer Service Index and Sales Satisfaction studies, which measure customers' satisfaction with the dealership service and sales departments, respectively.

Volvo S60 owner Dena Wholey of Westlake Hills, California, agrees with that assessment. "Everyone is very friendly and accommodating" at the dealership, she says, "and they always give me a free loaner when my car is in for service. The whole experience has been fantastic." Her only complaint? "[The service] is very expensive."

In Support of Women Being a relatively small company (U.S. sales totaled 140,000 units in 2004) with a limited budget, Volvo doesn't donate large sums of money to women's organizations. It does, however, participate in several women's programs, including the Forum for Executive Women, the National Latina Business Women Association, the National Hispanic Business Women Association, and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.

Volvo's biggest contributions to women, however, cannot be measured in dollars, but in the way the company constantly strives to learn about and provide what women want.

"I was thinking about my car the other day, and I thought, 'If I had all the money in the world, I would still drive this car," says Volvo XC90 owner Danya Hoenig of Los Angeles, California. "It has everything I need: a third row of seats that fold down; enough room for a double stroller and bicycles, lots of storage, and an integrated booster seat in the second row that slides forward."

What initially attracted Hoenig to Volvo was its reputation for safety. "Volvo is well known for its safety standards," says Hoenig, who traded in an S40 for her XC90 when she became pregnant, "and what mom doesn't want the safest car for her children?"

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A Case Study Solution for Volpe’s Volvo YCC Case Study Case Solution & Answer

Home » Case Study Analysis » A Case Study Solution for Volpe’s Volvo YCC Case Study

Volpe’s process starts with a brainstorming session, where a set of key performance measures is set for the project. These key performance measures comprise the summary of the project goals, the results, and the actions needed to achieve these results.

Once a set of goals has been set, the process begins with making a list of what the organization needs in order to attain the project goals. An overview of the needs identifies how the organization can achieve those needs through the performance measures identified.

Volpe then identifies the processes that must be used to achieve the results identified. With the plan, it is now time to “bid”pivot” in order to determine the order in which the steps need to be accomplished in order to reach the goals established.

The next step is to identify the right people, who are responsible for accomplishing the steps identified by Volpe, in order to achieve the YCC Case Study Solution. There are two levels to this process:

Critical activities are those activities that must be performed at all levels of the organization. Critical activities include materials management, service provision, ordering and tracking, finance, supply and ordering, and customer services.

Other critical activities include those activities that can be performed on-site, remotely, or not at all. For example, there may be a desire to increase efficiency, but it is only needed at the top level. This requires additional people to be placed in the process.

In order to participate in the activities that will be necessary to make the organization more efficient, critical activities must be chosen. This is achieved by engaging in a “case study” analysis of the organization’s business processes.

The strategic planning process helps to ensure that every aspect of the company is being evaluated in order to determine which activities need to be enhanced, altered, or eliminated in order to make the organization more efficient. The process works in both the short and long term to improve the value of the organization.

Using this process will help organizations get a better understanding of the market demand for their products and services, which will then allow them to tailor their service and project offerings to meet the needs of the marketplace. An example of this would be that certain markets may be underserved by the auto industry, and other markets may have a low demand for commercial van service.

There are many benefits associated with using a case study solution. These benefits include:

In conclusion, using a case study solution will help ensure that the benefits from the analysis of business processes are more accessible to a larger group of people, who will ultimately benefit the organization. Using this kind of analysis can result in a better understanding of the marketplace, and allow better coordination between multiple areas of the organization.

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The Volvo YCC Concept Was Designed By Women And Featured Really Weird Features

In 2004, Volvo revealed a concept car to the Geneva Motorshow that was designed entirely by women. It had ease, low-maintenance, and simple design in mind, and boasts features that even modern cars haven’t yet adopted, including the latest Volvos themselves.

Table of Contents

How Did The Volvo YCC Come About?

The idea behind the Volvo YCC was to appeal to the female driver market, but when you remove the macho feeling of needing to replace your own oil and open up the hood to stare at your engine, you realise that these features are incredibly useful to everyone on the road.

In 2001, a consultant by the name of Marti Barletta carried out a number of observational workshops at the Swedish carmaker. She concluded that “if you meet the expectations of women, you exceed the expectations of men.” This was the main idea behind the YCC – a car that everyone would find simple to use.

What Are These Weird Features, Then?

The car’s design revolved around simplicity, as you would imagine. For example, the windshield wiper fluid access was right next to the fuel filler. And both of these were filled via a capless ball valve, after Volvo surveys found that women considered caps to be a nuisance.

There was no oil filler, though. In fact, you couldn’t even open the hood because there wasn’t a hood! The car was designed to be able to drive for 31,000 miles between oil changes, and at that point, it would send a radio message to your local garage who would need to remove the front of the car to get to it. But that doesn’t matter. It’s not your problem.

The tyres were run-flats, like the tyres you’d find on armoured vehicles. This means you wouldn’t have to sit by the side of the road changing your tyre or waiting for someone to help you, you could just drive to a local garage and pay someone to do it for you.

The front and rear bumpers? They were crash proof.

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Inside The Car

Inside is equally as mad. Not only are the seats able to be easily swapped out when you get bored of their design, but the gear stick was moved to the steering wheel and the handbrake was made to be electronic. This meant the driver would have a bit more storage in the centre console, including a compartment big enough for your handbag, and even a bin! To improve this feeling of space, the doors were gullwing.

Thanks to Volvo’s Ergovision, there was no need to move your own seat. Your body would be scanned at a dealership to measure your proportions, and this information would be sent to your personal key. When you use this to unlock the vehicle, it would move itself to match your exact body shape. Very cool.

And when you do finally sit in your perfect position, the dash wasn’t cluttered with unnecessary information such as oil pressure or engine temperature. Instead, you’re given exactly what you need: speed, range, and navigation.

Driving And Performance

As far as I can tell, the car was never driven on the road. But under the… front of the car(??), sat a 215 horsepower inline five-cylinder engine. This means it’s not overly fast, but that’s okay. It had a parallel parking function to make up for it.

Alex Harrington

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, ycc: a gendered carnival project work at volvo cars.

Women in Management Review

ISSN : 0964-9425

Article publication date: 1 March 2005

To discusss the first concept car development project in the automotive industry managed by female engineers and designers.

Design/methodology/approach

An abiding concern in feminist discourses is to understand how and why women are excluded from certain positions and activities and how organizations become gendered. Drawing on the Russian literature theorist Mikhail Bakhtin, exceptional events such as concept car development projects in the automotive industry may be examined as a form of carnival wherein the predominant social order is overturned for a period of time and thereafter restored.

Exploring the “all female” project at Volvo Cars as a carnival event captures the double nature of such “affirmative” activities; on the one hand, they are giving space to marginal groups, while, on the other hand, being events that differ from the everyday work life order, they therefore risk being marginal activities with limited sustaining impact.

Originality/value

In theoretical terms, the paper has integrated feminist theory and Bakhtin's writing on the carnival as an institutionalized way to mediate conflict and discontent.

• Automotive industry
• Working practices

Styhre, A. , Backman, M. and Börjesson, S. (2005), "YCC: a gendered carnival? Project work at Volvo Cars", Women in Management Review , Vol. 20 No. 2, pp. 96-106. https://doi.org/10.1108/09649420510584436

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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Your Concept Car - by women for modern people

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• Initiative in June 2002 by women at Volvo Cars
• All decisions made by women
• Targeting the most demanding premium customer: the independent, professional woman

The idea of an all-woman team making all the decisions in the development of a new concept car arose at Volvo in the autumn of 2001. Visiting Volvo at the time for a series of workshops was Marti Barletta, an American expert on female consumer patterns. She claimed: "If you meet the expectations of women, you exceed the expectations of men".

"We’re sure it’s right," says Camilla Palmertz, one of the two project managers for the YCC. "That’s why that thesis has been our guiding light in developing Your Concept Car."

In June 2002, Camilla Palmertz and a small group of colleagues were invited to present their idea to Hans-Olov Olsson, President and CEO of Volvo Car Corporation. He greeted it with enthusiasm.

Women form an increasingly important customer group for Volvo Cars. In the United States, 54 per cent of all Volvo buyers are women and the percentage of female customers in Europe is growing steadily too.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for us: we can concentrate on the fast-growing group of women customers - without losing the men. Because I’m certain that our male customers will love this concept car," says Hans-Olov Olsson.

All decisions taken by women

The project management team behind the YCC consists of five women at Volvo Cars, who brought to the project a broad spectrum of experience in various automotive fields. The three chief designers are also women.

"We wanted to keep the woman’s perspective all the way through," says Hans-Olov Olsson.

After a series of preliminary studies, the project was given the go-ahead by Volvo Cars Management Team in December 2002. The team’s brief was perfectly clear: a free hand to develop a concept car capable of winning the approval of that most demanding Volvo customer category of all - the independent female professional.

Volvo has a long-standing tradition of listening carefully to what women want. As early as the 1980s, a women’s reference group was formed at Volvo. Here, female members of staff are called upon to test and assess new models at a very early stage of their development. Moreover, during the development of the XC90, a women’s focus group was convened in California - all potential buyers of this vehicle type, whose views helped shape the Volvo SUV’s distinctive features and functions.

"If you divide the car-buying world into three segments: budget, mid-market and premium, our customer research shows that the woman buyer in the premium segment is the most demanding of all customer categories," says Maria Widell Christiansen, Project Manager, Design.

Women customers in the premium segment want everything that men want in terms of performance, prestige and style. But they want more besides:

Smart storage solutions

A car that is easy to get in and out of

Good visibility

A car you can personalise

Minimal maintenance

A car that is easy to park

Smart storage

Smart storage goes far beyond where to put your handbag - It is a question of what to do with your mobile phone, your keys, your notebook computer, your briefcase, your sports bag for the gym and so many other things we carry in our cars.

The best place for keeping all the things you want on hand in the car is between the front seats. But that is where you normally find the gear lever and handbrake.

"So we moved them. In the YCC, there are gear levers by the steering wheel and the parking brake is electronic and integrated. This freed up space for storage in the centre console," says Cindy Charwick, who designed the YCC interior.

In the centre console, you find a shallow compartment for keys, mobile phones, coins and other small items. This compartment slides back to reveal a deeper one, big enough for a handbag. Another compartment takes a notebook computer and there is a cool box within reach of the driver’s seat too. A wastepaper basket completes the theme of sheer convenience.

"Most of our target group said they carry a bag in the rear seat far more often than passengers. So we decided to design that area primarily for storage but instantly convertible to seats for two passengers whenever needed," says Camilla Palmertz.

That is why the rear seats resemble cinema seats - normally folded up out of the way until someone needs them. This frees up large amounts of luggage space in the rear seat, easily accessed through the wide door. Passengers simply lower a seat each as they get in.

The YCC is a one-off concept car, a Volvo showcase for sharing bright ideas and solutions with the world. The most popular solutions will be those that stand the best chance of appearing in a future production model.

"We chose a gull-wing door with a modest wingspan to help us showcase the YCC’s interior solutions," says Elna Holmberg, Technical Project Manager. "And it brought other advantages - it makes it easy to lift a bag in behind the driver’s seat and it increases your visibility over your shoulder to the side because the B-pillar has been moved towards the rear. And when the door opens upwards, the drop-down door sill rotates simultaneously, so getting in and out is so much easier."

An easy car to get in and out of

Easy access to the car interior was high on the list of what the target group wanted.

The YCC designers were happy to oblige. When the gull-wing door opens, the drop-down sill below it opens down out of the way, so you do not need to climb in over it. The ride height is automatically returned to Hi mode for door opening, a comfortable height for those getting in. For added space, the driver’s seat moves back automatically and the steering wheel moves upwards. And the side bolsters on the driver’s seat base are lowered out of the way so you can get in more easily, too.

If you have a lot to carry, you can make the YCC open the door automatically when you reach it. You simply activate Auto-Open using the key before you pick up your bags, then, when you stand by the rear wheel, the relevant side door will be opened for you. If you go to the back of the car, the tailgate opens instead.

Your actual driving position and line of vision is very important for both safety and comfort in reaching all the controls.

"In the YCC, we have combined ergonomics and line of vision adjustment in our Ergovision system, which we are in the process of patenting," says Elna Holmberg.

This is how it works. Your whole body is scanned at the dealership, then the data on your relative proportions (height, leg length, arm length) is used to define a driving position just for you. This is stored in digital form on your personal key unit. Once you get into the driver’s seat and dock your key on the centre console, the seat, steering wheel, pedals, head restraint and seat belt will all be adjusted automatically to suit your build. The result is a recommended fully personalised driving position with the best line of vision for you.

If you want to alter the stored position, you can change the settings of the various car components in the system, then store that set of data on your key unit. The system will warn you if your line of vision is wrong by means of the lenticular hologram, which looks like a stylised eye displayed on the A-pillar, between windscreen and door.

The exterior design of the car has also been developed specifically to help the driver see better.

"The bonnet section has been lowered and the fenders have been deliberately brought into sight. Add to this the fact that the rear window extends right to the extremities of the car and the driver will know exactly where the four corners of the car are," says Anna Rosén, the designer of the YCC exterior.

More choice and flexibility

The YCC gives you all-round flexibility. You can choose the ride height - either Hi, if you like a commanding view of the road, or Lo, for a sportier feel.

And you can radically change the look of the car interior whenever you feel like it. There are eight exchangeable seat pad options to choose from, everything from dark brown leather, linen and wool bouclé, to a shimmering yellow-green embroidered seat pad.

Each of these has a matching carpet - also easy to swap over - for a whole range of styles inspired by home interior design.

"No need to trade in your car just because you have grown tired of its colour scheme!" says Maria Uggla, the Colour and Trim designer for the YCC.

"We want cars to make life easier for their owners, not complicate things for them," says project manager Eva-Lisa Andersson.

So the YCC has made user car care about as easy as it can get.

"The only time I ever open my bonnet is when I need to fill up with windscreen washer fluid," says Tatiana Butovitsch Temm, YCC Communications Manager. "So we asked ourselves whether you should have to open the bonnet just to do that. We realised that it could just as easily be done from the side of the car."

That is why the YCC has two capless ball-valve filling points like those used for racing cars beside the door on the driver’s side. One for petrol, the other for washer fluid. No fumbling with filler caps or bonnet latches!

With the windscreen washer fluid filler outside the car, no bonnet was needed, at least of the conventional type. Volvo service staff are the only ones who ever need to access the engine, when the time comes for routine service. When service is due, the car automatically notifies a service centre of your choice. The service centre then suggests an appointment time for you, that you can confirm or reject.. The YCC also carries out its own diagnostic checks at regular intervals and notifies your service centre if anything needs attention. This also ensures that any spare parts or materials will be there when they are needed.

"To us, service is more than just mechanical maintenance. By pressing the Car Care button on the control panel, you can also book your car in for valeting, inside and out," says Eva-Lisa Andersson.

The car is finished in Easy-Clean paint. This behaves rather like the coating on a non-stick pan - dirt finds it very hard to cling on in the first place and, if it does, it washes off very easily. The interchangeable seat covers and carpets are also washable.

The YCC’s tyres are of the run-flat type. Even after a puncture, the car can be driven to a service centre or a suitable place to stop.

Easy to park

Parallel parking assistance is a function both males and females requested.

In the YCC, this is a two-stage system. When you need to park between two other cars, but first want to make sure there will be enough space, you press the parking assistance button once for the space-check function. If the system says yes, you can then select the Autopark function by pressing the same button again. The car helps you with the steering to manoeuvre you into the parking space, but you control the accelerator, brakes and gearshift. Autopark streamlines your parallel parking with flair.

Engine and transmission

The YCC is prepared for a low-emission 215 bhp, five-cylinder PZEV engine with an Integrated Starter-Generator (ISG). This, like other Volvo PZEV engines, complies with the toughest emission standards in certain American "green" states such as California.

ISG has several advantages. It prevents unnecessary idling because the engine can be shut off automatically when waiting at places like traffic lights. It comes to life again as soon as the driver presses the accelerator. It also provides extra torque at low revs, which means maximum power right from the start. And the ISG provides a 60 V power supply, giving scope for even greater user convenience.

The YCC has a six-speed Powershift gearbox. You can either choose the fully automatic mode, or use the controls on the steering column to change gear.

Powershift means that the car in effect has dual wet-clutch transmission technology, ensuring that your gear changes are always at the right revs. This makes for smooth driving and lower fuel consumption.

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Mercurial Essays

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Consumer Behaviour Individual Assignment: 1 Case Study: Volvo YCC Submitted by: Akshay Sareen: GAPR11MM148 1. As cited in the case, female customers of Volvo’s YCC want performance, prestige and style from their automobiles. Additionally, they want more of the following to be incorporated in its design – smart storage solutions, easy embarkation/ disembarkation, good visibility, personalization, minimal maintenance and easy manoeuvrability for parking. 2.

The case cites an adage which states that ‘if you meet the expectations of women, you’ll exceed the expectations of men’. This is substantiated by two key metrics – 65% of car buying decisions are made by women and 80% of buying decisions are influenced by women. These metrics, along with the fact that 54% of American Volvo buyers are women, strongly suggest that male consumers will respond extremely positively to the innovative design elements as envisaged in the Volvo YCC. . Future concept cars from the Volvo stable could expand its scope beyond addressing consumer needs & usage patterns, to also include the following elements of consumer consumption – how and when is the car primarily used (for instance: to & from office, weekend getaways, grocery shopping etc. , what is the frequency and duration of usage (in terms of mileage), safety, warranty, is the experience of driving a car purely functional or aspirational/ entertainment driven etc, when and how do consumers dispose of their cars (ie. through re-sellers, scrap dealers, swap deals etc. ), and is there any cognitive dissonance prevalent after the purchase is made and before consumption. 4. The CDP model can help in formulating communication and marketing strategies for Volvo’s YCC. The marketing mix should be such that the utomobile’s features satisfies the benefits as visualized by consumers (in the need recognition stage); promotional activities should include those mediums which are most frequently used by consumers (in the information gathering and pre-purchase evaluation stages respectively); channels of distribution employed should be in sync with consumers preferred models (of purchase); value added features such as extended warranties and after sales support to be built into (the consumption stage); and finally customer satisfaction surveys to determine post-consumption and divestment behaviour.

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If done in congruence with one another, each level of marketing deployed at different stages of the CDP model can help in attracting, developing, maintaining, retaining and growing customers. 5. As a marketing executive working with a competitor’s firm, I would respond by deploying the following initiatives: a) Changing the frame of the equation by conceptualizing a loss-framed message which conveys to women consumers that the losses incurred far outweigh the gains added by substituting their current car for Volvo’s YCC. ) By increasing the perceived scarcity of my product line (which would cause it to be seen as more valuable and consequently, more desirable). c) Using product endorsers to attract attention and shape consumers’ product opinion. d) Conveying more objective claims (such as actual storage space) via advertising which will evoke a more favourable response about my firm’s automobiles than Volvo’s YCC whose communication is focused only on delivering subjective claims.

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