VOLVO

I recently attend two marketing events for Volvo Automobiles. The word Volvo is Latin and it means to roll. Volvo is an old Swedish Car company dating back to 1927 when Gustav Larson began building cars that could withstand the harsh Swedish climate. These rugged vehicles evolved into one of the safest cars made. Volvo was first to use auto crash test and seat belts in their cars.

Over the years Volvo did not keep pace with German or Japanese auto companies and in 1999 was sold to Ford motor company. Ford worked hard to update Volvo and reintroduce the Brand into the US Market. After ten years of loss, Ford sold Volvo to the Chinese manufacturer Geely.

The first event we attended was a test drive for the new 2011 Volvo S60. It was called the "Naughty Volvo Test Drive". They were trying to make the new Volvos seem "bad" or perhaps interesting. The fact is, Volvo only sold 60,000 autos in the US in 2009 versus 190,000 each for BMW and Mercedes. The Volvo Brand is fading faster than Barrack Obama.

The test drive was held at Santa Anita Race Track. It was very dull and the cars were even duller. Pam drove one and I just watched. If the intent was to build interest in the Volvo line...this event failed. Long lines, too few cars, and very little to see or do, made for boredom and sadly that is what Volvo has become. We attended a similar event in the past for Mercedes and it was fun and exciting. Volvo does not know how to attract high end car buyers or how to hold their attention.

The most recent event was last Sunday. It was a focus group session for Volvo's new models. Six of us were in one group and we did not know at the beginning that the cars we would be seeing were Volvos. We were shown several new designs and asked to select which we liked better. It was sort of like being asked, "Do you prefer cancer or heart disease". It was very disappointing.

Volvo's problem is a lack of consistent direction. Their cars have never performed as well as other European makers. Their engines lack power and the cars are dull. Redesign will not fix what is wrong with Volvo. BMW, Audi, VW, and Mercedes all have been working under strong leadership to develop world class cars. If Volvo will be successful, they will need twenty years to catch up. Their cars in the near future are Camry or Buick copy cats.