DETROIT — Anthony Lo, hired last year as Ford Motor Co.’s chief design officer, plans to showcase more concept vehicles as electrification of the automaker’s lineup presents what he calls a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to rethink how a vehicle should look.”
The approach is a familiar one for Lo, 57, who spent the past decade at Renault, where he helped implement the company’s “cycle of life” design strategy that resulted in a number of award-winning concepts.
“A concept car is not just simply a sculpture,” he told Automotive News. “It’s a platform for us to test experiences and think, ultimately, how the brand design language should evolve.”
The public will get its first glimpse of Lo’s vision April 20, when Ford plans to release an electric vehicle concept for its Lincoln luxury brand. The company on Monday shared a teaser image, calling the global concept “inspiration for our fully electric Lincoln vehicles coming in the near future.”
While Lo did not discuss the Lincoln concept specifically, he said introducing more concepts than Ford had been doing can help generate excitement from customers.
“This is the best way to understand whether this new direction we’ve decided to take is acceptable and if people will fall in love with them,” he said.
