The archive · Product Ideas · Product decision · 2022–2024
Volvo EX30 wins Red Dot Best of the Best 2024 — minimal Scandinavian SUV
Volvo's smallest-ever SUV wins Red Dot Best of the Best 2024 with a 93/100 jury score — form follows function, recycled materials, one central screen.
Volvo Cars
What it had to solve
Volvo set out to build its smallest model for a growing wave of electric-vehicle buyers who wanted a compact car without giving up Volvo values — safety, sustainability and Scandinavian restraint. The EX30 had to prove that 'small' could still feel premium.
How it works
The Volvo EX30 is the smallest car Volvo has ever built, launched to meet electric-vehicle buyers who wanted a compact SUV without giving up Volvo values. In April 2024 it won the Red Dot: Best of the Best Product Design award, the competition's top honour, with a total score of 93 out of 100 from a jury of 39 international experts.
The award judges design on four qualities — function, seduction, use and responsibility — and the EX30 was built around exactly that restraint. A long wheelbase, large wheels and equal overhangs give the small body balance and refinement, while the interior makes a virtue of the electric platform's freed-up space: storage, controls and screens are centralized around one theme instead of scattered across the cabin.
Sustainability is part of the design itself. Natural and recycled materials cut the car's footprint — Volvo says the EX30 has the lowest carbon footprint of any fully electric Volvo to date — and CEO Jim Rowan framed the car as 'premium Scandinavian design where form follows function.'
The Red Dot capped a run of more than 20 honours for the model, including the Car Design Award 2024, The Sun Car of the Year, the Sunday Times Small SUV/Crossover of the Year and Top Gear's Eco Warrior of the Year.
Why it lands
- Downsizing without cheapening: long wheelbase, large wheels and equal overhangs keep the compact body balanced and refined.
- The interior was centralized around one screen and storage theme, using the EV platform's space instead of burying it in clutter.
- Recycled and natural materials turned sustainability into visible design, not a hidden spec — and cut the carbon footprint below every other Volvo EV.
- The 93/100 jury score shows restraint, judged on function, seduction, use and responsibility, can win the top prize in a field of bolder designs.
What it did
Red Dot Best of the Best Product Design 2024, scored 93/100 by a jury of 39 experts — one of more than 20 awards, including the Car Design Award 2024 and Top Gear's Eco Warrior of the Year.
What you can take
When the product is smaller, design is subtraction with intent: one clear interior focus and meaningful materials make compact read as premium rather than cheap.
Since then
The Red Dot joined more than 20 honours the EX30 collected around its launch, including the Car Design Award 2024 from auto&design, The Sun Car of the Year and Top Gear's Eco Warrior of the Year. Volvo used the 93/100 jury score across its marketing, and the car's minimalist, recycled-material interior became a reference point for how a small electric SUV could lead on design rather than size.
Sources
- La Volvo EX30 riceve il prestigioso Red Dot 'Best of the Best' Design Award
- Volvo EX30 receives the prestigious Red Dot 'Best of the Best' Design Award
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