Hasta La Ideas

Guest post by John Cantwell

Yesterday was perhaps the biggest day in recent memory for Ford, as the manufacturer swept the North American Car and Truck of the Year awards and, just a few minutes later, introduced its brand-new Focus to the world. A far-cry from the dowdy Foci currently on the road, the 2011 Focus marks a significant turning point for Ford, both in terms of the company’s heightened emphasis on the global small-car market and its approach to design.

Core77 sat down with Moray Callum, Ford’s executive director of design, to discuss the shape of the next wave of sustainable cars, the new Focus, and how the iPod changed the way car designers approach new projects.

Core77: This isn’t the first time that auto manufacturers have tried to be more fuel-efficient; after the fuel crisis in the 1970’s fuel efficiency shot up dramatically, but then gas got cheap again and cars got bigger. Do you see sustainability being a lasting initiative, or is it just a trend?

Moray Callum: I’ve been in the business nearly thirty years and I think there’s a real concerted effort now from a political and national standpoint to really be serious about alternative energies; I think this time we’re actually going to see a real sea change in the types of vehicles we see on the road. Whether it’s going to be 50% electric vehicles in ten years’ time I’m not sure, but I think there’s certainly going to be electric vehicles out there and I think they’re here to stay this time. It’s not just the ecological side of it, it’s the political side as well; people are trying to keep the power base in the U.S. So there’s a major interest from the auto industry, and I really sense it’s happening this time, in different ways. As I said, I’m not really sure what that final solution will be. But there’s definitely a concerted effort to make improvements.

Core77: I’m wondering if you see a “look” for these green vehicles emerging. The new Focus, for instance, is a lot tighter and more muscular than its predecessor, and we’ve seen other cars here in Detroit with a similar look, almost like a skin pulled very taut around a skeleton. Is that how designers are articulating efficiency, through these leaner designs?

MC: Well, I think, yes, you’re seeing a lot of these more muscular designs now, and that certainly is one way to indicate a car may be more efficient. There are also technical considerations. The drivetrains of gas cars mean the cars basically have to look a certain way because things have to go where they need to be; that may change as new powertrains are introduced. You may start to see cars looking very different then. At Ford, we’re not necessarily aiming for a “green” look for our cars right now, we think our technology will tell people the cars are more efficient.

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