SHANGHAI AUTO SHOW: Volvo wants car controls as easy as iPads

And the Swedes also want to ditch the owner's manual
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The new German boss of Volvo, Stefan Jacoby wants to make cars of the future so simple they won't need to come with an owner's manual.

Responding to concerns about driver distraction, Jacoby said Volvo was uniquely positioned to rise to the challenge with "simplistic Scandinavian design".

During a roundtable conference with international media at Auto Shanghai yesterday, Jacoby said: "We need to feel comfortable with the controls, to steer the car, [and operate] the navigation system, the entertainment system, the air-conditioning. I agree we are not yet there ... and there we will put our strength."

While holding an iPhone, he said: "Everyone knows this is maybe the simplest machine we operate. It even comes without the instruction manual. Everybody can really use these days an iPhone or an iPad.
That's my vision for Volvo as well.

"I'm not sure whether we will be able to -- or legally be able to -- introduce a car without an instruction manual, but it should be simple to control. You should be able to sit in the car and know what to do intuitively. That's my intention and that's my vision for Volvo cars."

He said luxury cars had become too complicated, an oblique reference to cabin control systems used by BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.

"I define luxury also as things that are simple," he said. "That makes life simpler, less complicated; that for me is luxury as well.

"I have a DVD player at home that I cannot program because I forgot already how to use it ... and I have lost the manual and that makes me feel uncomfortable. And I hate it, and it's complicated.
"We have a lot of these machines in day to day life and I think it fits to a brand like Volvo if we focus with our engineering on making things easier and less complicated for the consumer.

"I believe our cars in the future will be simple and intuitive to steer and control and to drive."

Jacoby said that although Volvo has returned to profitability it still was not in the clear just yet.

"We are a little flower which is growing," he said. "I want to have a strong tree out of this which is sustainable.

"We managed to transfer the company to profitability during 2010 ... but we are not yet sustainable. We have ambitious objectives by more than doubling our sales and bring Volvo to sustainability. We are not yet 100 per cent weather-proof for another storm."

He said once Volvo had more cash behind it, the company would consider building exciting, indulgent models such as a modern version of the Volvo P1800 classic from the 1960s.

"Once we are safe then we can look at other cars like this (P1800); I have a picture on my wall in my office I see it every day."

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