No Volvo S40 orders - he's taking the p--- surely

[homer timpson]

Wife phoned on 19th March to place order for a new S40 SE and was told Volvo had put S40 orders on hold

Geely/Ford signing was taking place so perhaps finances were up in the air with the transition!!

Phoned back twice since then - latest was Thursday of last week - dealer still saying they "can't access the sales Portal" and are unable to place the order.

Never heard anything like this before. Has anyone placed an order in the past few days? How many more incredible yarns are we likely to hear?

Regards

Homer

[NewVolvo]

This can be down to a few things that Volvo are up to at the moment.

1. S40 may be replaced by the new S60 (similar in size, but not price!). Production of the new S60 starts Week 35.

2. Volvo stopped (as they do every year) to take orders in March and only now are opening their order books again. This is thanks to new year changes (MYXX) and updates to engines and equipment. XC60 was affected last year and are this year too. Not sure if this is for all models.

Your dealer should still be able to send an order through to Volvo UK, even if Volvo Sweden are not accepting orders right now. Once Sweden opens the books, it gets sent automatically to them. My dealer did this last year.

Ask dealer about S60 and see what they say....

[grass hopper]

how strange,there used to compounds full of new s40's waiting to be sold,we had some that were parked round the back for 12 months and still unsold !

new factory orders not being opened is a little worrying though as Geely have taken over ?

[NewVolvo]

Originally Posted by grass hopper

how strange,there used to compounds full of new s40's waiting to be sold,we had some that were parked round the back for 12 months and still unsold !

new factory orders not being opened is a little worrying though as Geely have taken over ?

AFAIK Volvo no longer build cars and let them collect dust on a quay somewhere, like in the past. Alot of manufacturers are doing this nowadays as to produce a car and letting it stand is very expensive.

Not taking orders (or providing any info for that matter) is pretty bad too.

[grass hopper]

Originally Posted by NewVolvo

AFAIK Volvo no longer build cars and let them collect dust on a quay somewhere, like in the past. Alot of manufacturers are doing this nowadays as to produce a car and letting it stand is very expensive.

Not taking orders (or providing any info for that matter) is pretty bad too.

at our dealership they had to order so many cars a month,sold or unsold to get discount on new orders,if a few cars were unsold the dealer was financially better off,i don't mean cars at a quay but stored at the main dealers premises.

strange why there is no car at a dealership in the country that could be sold straight way to homer timpson !

never heard a car being refused to be sold as a new order !

[LRS]

I placed an order for a new S40 SE Lux Premium on the 26th March. The dealer stated a delivery date of around end of May. Spoke to the dealer over the Easter weekend and was told that the revised delivery time is now mid June.

I believe that my order is currently in a holding que until the factory build system is reopened in mid April.

Something is obviously going on however, based on the delayed delivery date...

[John_C]

Ford have invested a whole heap of cash in splitting the Volvo IT system off from the main Ford one ready for integration into whoever bought Volvo, maybe that work is in progress now. Would have thought it's more likely that it's just the usual model switch shutdown though?

[Gel]

VELLY SOON ORDERS CAN BE placed at any Chinese Restaurant on your local High Street!!

[homer timpson]

Thanks for the replies - it is ironic that, as the country is doing its best to weather the currrent recession, you can't spend your hard earned cash

No doubt IT integration and the factory shutdown are factors with the Geely takeover. Presumably the Bank which funded the car purchases/leasing agreements will also change and more delays will ensue!!

Homer

[froggyted]

What are peoples' feelings about the Geely takeover? (if there's a separate thread for this, please direct me to it!). Personally, i think it's a sad day for Volvo. I fear that all that Volvo have previously stood for (quality, safety etc.) might now be compromised. I plan to buy one of the new model S40s (used) later this year, but unless i'm convinced that the integrity of the Volvo brand hasn't been compromised it might well be the last Volvo i buy. Maybe i'll be driving Saabs in a few years time!