Image is everything to most retail brands. It can take a long time to build a memorable image. However, there are innumerable qualities, or attributes, that must be underscored on that expensive journey towards market acceptability. While securing the ‘ownership’ of some of them can be fraught with issues, to be unique within a market segment demands intense attention to detail.
When you inspect Volvo, it is a car manufacturer that has enjoyed a long history (the first Volvos rolled off the production lines in Gothenburg in 1927), although it was established in 1911, when it was involved in the Swedish steel industry and made ball-bearings, as a subsidiary of SKF. In fact, its company name arose from those origins; Volvo means ‘I roll’ in Latin. Its ring and arrow slash grille emblem is an iron brand.
Although its cars only commenced selling in the UK, in very small numbers, in the late-1950s, they developed a reputation for being sturdily-built and for possessing a sound mix of high engineering standards and first-rate dynamics. In fact, some of the earliest models (the 120-series) were known as Amazon, a name that suggests inherent strength and purpose.
Despite its inevitable popularity in Scandinavian countries, Volvo has remained a modest volume producer of executive models, even though the brand does sell world-wide. In 1999, it was sold to Ford Motor Company, which made it one of its ‘premium’ brands. However, the Chinese Geely Corporation bought Volvo in 2010 and its continued upwards progress has been assured for the future. While not exactly stratospheric, its sales and profitability have been increasing annually at a most satisfying rate.
Naturally, with a strong market demand for SUVs and 4x4s, Volvo struck out with its XC family of both high-siders and low-riders. However, the company earned its stripes in the estate car sector and the new V60 is a model that sits happily in the Acacia Avenue, middle England, management environment, where its status and capabilities have been long recognised as meeting demands. Yet, Volvo remains elegant and relatively class-free, which is an unique benefit of its own.
Volvo estate cars are practical load-luggers, when they need to be, but versatility and design, which are coincidentally Swedish national attributes, remain as important aspects of the new V60. Besides, producing a car for this segment of the new car scene has been generationally important to Volvo throughout its history.
Featuring the use of the company’s scalable product architecture (SPA) that has been used most fruitfully with the company’s XC90, S90 and V90 models, as well as the most recent XC60, means that production costs can be reduced significantly, as well as helping Volvo to break sales records, which it has achieved in recent years. As a type of platform engineering, Volvo has been able to utilise its world-beating safety research (no car company invests as much in this field as Volvo), as well as its chassis engineering and modular power unit developments in both cost-effective and tangible ways.
The V60 presents beautifully. Its short frontal and rear overhangs create an attractive profile, which hugs the ground looks as strong as steel. However, the family relationship to the larger and hugely impressive V90 model is also clear. Volvo appreciates the pivotal role of the V60 in its range of cars, which bridges importantly the middle and upper segments of the business car market in the UK.
Creating a compelling interior, while not an easy task, is one that Volvo seems to have made its own in recent years. Volvo’s safe seat design is carried over from other models in the line-up, complete with the three-point safety belts that the company invented for the rest of the world more than 60 years ago. Cosseting and luxurious, whether finished in full hide, or houndstooth cloth, the interior exudes a bespoke high-end quality feel that does not pretend to rival the equivalents of its market competitors. It is uniquely Volvo.
Judicious space engineering ensures that there is room for up to five adults and their belongings. The actual differences between the 90-series interior accoutrements and the V60 are minimal, with the clear instruments and centre stack carried over with only minor changes. The portrait format touch-screen has been improved since its first appearance in the XC90 and, together with its more logical pagination, it creates a cabin focus.
Volvo has already stated that all of its models from 2019 will be either all-electric, or petrol-hybrid, and the V60 boasts both T6 and T8 Twin-Engine power units (developing 340 and 380bhp respectively, with plug-in capability), although regular T5 and T6 petrols are available, along with D3 and D4 turbo-diesels. We shall test these models individually in the near future.
As Volvo has been playing a key role in the EU’s development of driverless and autonomous cars, apart from a suite of leading safety and driver assist packages, all of which feature next-generation technology, Volvo is making its safety programs both transparent and even more comprehensive in their range of capabilities. With prices starting at £31,810 (not including your Forces Cars Direct discount), deliveries to UK customers should commence in early-autumn 2018.
However, some customers may be drawn to the company’s ‘Care by Volvo’ programme, which is, in essence, a brand subscription service. In other words, the company has turned to mobile-phone marketing methodology and, rather than paying hard cash for a new V60, a flat rental fee is charged instead. In making this service available, Volvo is recognising that significant changes are taking place within the vehicle retailing scene and it is not about to be left behind to meet future demands.
