Volvo 'won't copy the Germans'

Leonard Hofstadter

Surprised no-one mentioned this before, but I must say this is a breath of fresh air.

So refreshing to hear a CEO say that his company should stop trying to be something they're not.

Volvos are not even slightly sporty. Nothing in their history (apart from the P1800) points to even a slight hint of sportiness. They don't need to be sporty. I couldn't give a monkeys that Volvo doesn't have a RWD car these days. They're not sporty or even sporting, so there is no need for a Volvo to have RWD. If I want a sporty premium badge car then I'll buy a BMW.

Stefan Jacoby really seems to understand what a 'proper' Volvo should be about. He is also right about the fact that Volvos being an alternate choice, that is precisely what they are, they are a car for people with an ability to think for themselves and buy what suits them and not what they see their friends and neighbours driving. They are not a car for sheeple i.e. people who lack imagination and see premium brands through the narrow prism of BMW, Merc and Audi.

What I hope is while they are busy in the process of returning to their roots, they will also focus on build quality and reliability. The Volvos of the 80s and 90s were very reliable(bar the 340 and 440, but they weren't proper Volvos no more than the 316i is not a proper BMW) and felt expensive in a completely different way to German cars. Unfortunately, the newer Volvos are not so well screwed together, we hear about the current S40 having expensive problems with the ESP module.

If they could sort the reliability out and let Stefan Jacoby do what he wants to do, then Volvo has an extremely bright future ahead:)! I like many German cars, but I also like variety. I look forward to seeing what happens when Volvo will hopefully rediscover their mojo:)!

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/253737/

Cookie_Monster

hmmm... not sporty even though the build SUVs...
:P

Tabnabs

Interesting times overall for Volvo

Geely chairperson Li Shufu wants to see large, luxury vehicles which is not part of Volvo's plans for China.

Li aired his opinions in the Chinese state-owned Securities Times (ST) newspaper, the first time the Chinese owners have publicly expressed an opinion distinct from their Swedish subsidiary.

According to Li, Volvo Cars maintain that large cars require more fuel and more material to manufacture, and argue that the global car industry is developing towards more fuel-efficient and eco-friendly models.

Li Shufu appeared unruffled by the differences of opinion, arguing that they will be solved given time and would lead to an improvement in coordination between the firms, while he is reported to have expressed criticism in his interview.

Any connection between Li's criticism and the resignation of Magnus Jonsson, head of Volvo's product development, has been rejected by Jonsson in a comment to the Göteborgs-Posten (GP) daily.

Volvo Cars has not issued a response to Li Shufu's comments.

"We have not had it confirmed from Li Shufu directly. We have sent an email to Geely, but have not received an answer," said Volvo Cars' Olle Axelson to GP.

source

mumblin deaf ro

I'm not sure I'm convinced. Volvo is emphasising the sportyness of the new S60 (http://www.hbdennismotors.ie/press-release/All-New_Volvo_S60_makes_its_world_debut.pdf), which has been resized to compete with the A4 and 3 series http://editorial.autos.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1132585

My brother-in-law sells Volvos and I got to see it at the weekend. It's a nice-looking car, even in the launch colour of metallic tikka masala.

Anan1

captainspeed wrote: »

Volvos are not even slightly sporty. Nothing in their history (apart from the P1800) points to even a slight hint of sportiness.

I would have thought the 850 T5R was a lot sportier than the P1800 myself. Good points made in the article, though.

mikedragon32

Anan1 wrote: »

I would have thought the 850 T5R was a lot sportier than the P1800 myself. Good points made in the article, though.

Not to mention entering estates into the BTCC! I think they took the "touring car" element literally.

colm_mcm

Unless geely want to build German style cars.
I would assume China has the final say?

Tabnabs

Anan1 wrote: »

I would have thought the 850 T5R was a lot sportier than the P1800 myself. Good points made in the article, though.

Can't agree, the 1800 is a coupe, designed (by a famous Swedish designer) in Italy and was marketed in the same range as an E-type. The T5R is when Volvo and Porsche engineers got locked in a garage with an 850 and schnapps

Anan1

Dyflin wrote: »

Can't agree, the 1800 is a coupe, designed (by a famous Swedish designer) in Italy and was marketed in the same range as an E-type. The T5R is when Volvo and Porsche engineers got locked in a garage with an 850 and schnapps

'Coupé' & 'marketing' do not always (or even generally) = sporting!

Tabnabs

Anan1 wrote: »

'Coupé' & 'marketing' do not always (or even generally) = sporting!

No, but a 2-litre B20E engine with Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection and 130bhp in 1970 was no hair dressers car either.

SouperComputer

I think its fair to say Volvo have lost some of their uniqueness since Ford\P2 platform. Still very nice cars, but stupid complicated (read expensive) when things go wrong. As long as they keep the 5cylinder engines ill be happy. We have 201K miles on our 98 V70 T5. It still goes at a fair rate of pace and I love the grunty sound of the T5 on full song. The '99 S80 T6 we have however is up on blocks with a blown headgasket after a mere 180K miles. Lovely engine to drive, pain to work on.

I dont think sportyness has been a core competancy of Volvo's but for sure its been moreso part of their image from the 850 onwards. But then what does "sporty" mean anyway?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNedsW5TelU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCilj5m-fQU