Volvo has been seduced by the notion that adding more style and technical whizbang features to their cars is what lures buyers. This is where they've failed the brand (the relationship between their value proposition, and the customer's experience of it). The reason most of us bought Volvos is because they had *just enough* of the right gear, and no more. I appreciated the early adption of safety features, the taut European handling, the sizzling (but not screaming) performance of the turbocharged engines, the comfort introduced with the 740. Compared to other cars of it's size, it was spare in terms of 'toys,' in fact it was downright basic, but it was a better car! And all I had to do was change oil, tires and occasionally the exhaust system.

I still have the safety, and the T5 powerplant has got to be one of the best engines on the planet (a Porsche design, by the way), improved lighting, branded Volvo styling (in my 98), and ECU defense of the turbocharger. But is my car a better value because it has climate control (evaporator), FWD (no way), eight-way speakers (CDs stick in the player, back speakers get fuzzy with dust), and other goodies I don't even know are there? (until they break, that is) The added complexity may be about keeping up with the automotive Joneses. But....weren't the Joneses trying to keep up with Volvo just five years ago? I mean, do all the toys make a Bonneville a quality car?

The Volvo brand somehow created a world unto itself. I certainly feel they needed to explore some new direction. But they went about it in the most self destructive way possible. They should have retained a core product that was consistent with their brand promise....a quality car, European in its appeal, not overstyled, not overly tricked out. At least one RWD model, probably the S80 which is too big for FWD anyway. The S70/S60 was ready for a freshening but should have retained a distinctive Volvoish look. (A scale-model S80? Oh, please.) These few steps would have sent a more calming signal to the market instead of screaming 'brand shift!' They might have saved a half billion to a billion dollars, to boot.

Given their inexcusable service record, and the corporate thicket they're now entangled in (i.e., Ford PAG), the road ahead will be needlessly difficult...they've got to recover what they've lost, before they can be said to be making progress.

The automotive competition, which once lusted for Volvo's impregnable niche, now sees the brand as wounded and vulnerable. Honda, among others, has announced publicly that they are targeting Volvo buyers who once would never have given them a second thought. And the $40K Passat with the W8 engine is clearly in the same category...and a far more innovative automobile.
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David \\ (98 S70 T5SE Black, misc mods (mostly lighting), red calipers) (92 940GLE)