Small changes for the Volvo XC60
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Pretty insignificant. really…
Just making sure it looks more like the all new V40.
Which is not sold in the US.
This is what we should have here in the US: the super good looking V60 wagon. Instead of the XC SUV.
But in a dumbass move, Volvo decided, a few years ago, that they were not going to sale wagons in the US anymore.
Who is running the show over there???
Your right… dumbasses… I think allot of us over here would prefer a wagon over a SUV! I would…
Okay.
What was wrong with it before? This looks blander…
Who is BUYING wagons over here? Anybody??? I know SUV sales are a MAJOR % of total vehicle sales all across the entire US; but Wagons? Mabey they're not dumbasses at Volvo so much as they are pragmatic mathematicans!
The problem with Volvo is that they accidentally hit a home run with their SUVs a decade ago.
The XC90 and XC70 weren't particularly good (or reliable), but they were way better than the truck-like competition.
Their cars and wagons didn't do so well because, let's face it, they were significantly worse than an Accord for more money. Same product, different segments.
Any reasonably good auto exec would have thought "let's make our cars better so they are competitive." Volvo's execs thought: "let's stop selling cars and just do SUVs."
Fast forward a few years and everyone now also makes better car-like SUVs, plus the huge SUV (XC90) market has collapsed.
Instead of swinging back with the market, Volvo has decided to double-down: no S40 for the US, no wagons, no manuals, no fun, nothing that handles, no decent fuel economy, nothing but vast expanses of cheap plastics. Your typical Volvo ride is filled with the overwhelming despair of a Bergman character.
Volvo, here's a clue: the reason your smaller wagons and sedans stopped selling isn't because the market was wrong, it's because the cars were bad. The S40/V40/V50 had crap reliability, cheap interiors and loose handling. Nobody's going to pay big bucks for that. Now stop feeling sorry for yourselves and making excuses. Bring-in some good stuff. People will buy it.
TO: December 31, 2012 5:41 AM
I think the days of VOLVO making "good stuff" ended when the Chinese bought them. And their reputation for safety ended the same day.
@ December 28, 2012 1:32 PM
You are a fool. You are calling Volvo a "dumbass" for not offering something in the US market that wasn't selling?
Yeah, you know a lot about business and the automotive industry in general.
"Let's give the people something that they don't want, and it isn't profitable for us!"
Yeah, great idea buddy.