If They Build It, Women Will Come
Volvo has created an all-female design team to create a woman-friendly concept car. What do you they think women want in a car:
- No hood: The front end is designed as one large section, meant to be lifted only by the mechanic. The reasoning is women don’t want to be bothered with maintenance, and the car is designed to be virtually maintenance free (oil change every 30,000 miles).
- Storage space. The car has wide, gull-wing doors that allow easy access to the space behind the driver’s seat
- Easy to park. The car has a sensor to tell the driver if the car will fit in a parking space. It also can take over the steering to parallel park.
- Also, run-flat tires, pedals that collapse to the floor during a crash to prevent leg injuries, and a headrest with a valley down the center for women who wear their hair in ponytails.
Because, as we know, every Swedish woman keeps her hair in a ponytail. I jest, but it kind of seems like that. Regardless, I applaud this endeavour, but I’m not sure how important–outside of the Volvo organization–it is. These days, women are more often the principal car buyer than men. So, in theory, the automotive industry should increasingly be changing to respond to a female demographic.
Bonus link: While searching for photos of Swedish hair, I found this curious Swedish hand game. The image looks like an orgy, but it’s just a bunch of clothed people holding hands in Bali. It has a great Socialist sentiment: “Don’t let go until you succeed as a group, or give up as a group.”
Lynsey 
Chan 
Imogene