Design stars reflect on loss of ‘industry great’ Peter Horbury

The magnitude of Peter Horbury’s sudden passing last week is still being absorbed by the industry.

Two themes have run through the outpouring of condolences: Horbury’s brilliance as a designer for his work at brands such as Lotus, Lynk & CO, Volvo, Ford, Lincoln and Chrysler during nearly 50 years in the business, and for his unparalleled kindness and unmatched sense of humor.

Two global design stars, who have risen to heights seldom achieved by car stylists, shared heartfelt comments with Automotive News Europe.

JLR Chief Creative Officer Gerry McGovern shared this:

“I have so many fond memories of Peter, having known him since I was a teenager.”

“He will rightly be remembered for his huge contribution to automotive design, yet his talents were numerous.”

“He was a great raconteur, a master storyteller, cartoonist and a pretty good piano player too. Above all he was a wonderful man who enriched many people’s lives and has left us too early.”

Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath, who succeeded Horbury as Volvo’s design boss in 2011, shared this:

“Peter was the driving force behind building Volvo design into a modern, international and professional organization that fostered an overwhelmingly warm and friendly team spirit.”

“He repeated this process on the broader Geely group level too. A true industry great.”

“My deepest condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.”

In my last conversation with Horbury, we discussed Ingenlath’s rise to CEO, a level few car designers have ever achieved, to get his feeling on whether this would start a new trend.

Horbury said: “I really admire that he’s done this. It’s been tried before [elevating a designer to a top management post] to varying degrees of success. Sometimes I think those designers [promoted to top jobs in the past] became fed up with all the [management] stuff they had to deal with. But I think Thomas is doing a great job bringing a completely new brand to market.”

And Horbury added this on McGovern: “Gerry McGovern is now on the management board at Jaguar Land Rover. I think he will do a fantastic job in maintaining the balance between the commercial, financial and creative sides, because his voice will have a lot of authority in that company as a board member.”

All three men also have another thing in common. Each has been named an Automotive News Europe Eurostar for design.

Horbury was honored in 2002 for his work at Premier Automotive Group (a Ford created compilation of brands that included Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo). Ingenlath took home the Eurostar award in 2017 for his award-winning work at Volvo.

McGovern is the only person to win two Eurostars for design in the award’s 25-year history, taking the title in 2012 for his creations at Jaguar Land Rover and winning again in 2020 for his successful reinvention of the Defender off-roader.

Nick Gibbs contributed