Geely again

[arcturus]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8614770.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8644730.stm

[OldBlueVolvo]

In the video, did you see the production worker hitting the bonnet with a mallet?

[Oilydad]

Yes. Somehow, as I've said before, I don't think there are going to ever, be any PROPER Volvo's again!!

Lovely video clip that, the reporter standing next to a lovely 'old' REAL Volvo in black, and then the Chinese approach to advanced engineering. "If it doesn't fit, smack it with the Birmingham Screwdriver!!"

GOD help us!!

They should re-brand the new Chinese built Non-Volvos....

B B C
Built by Cowboys!

Thank God for my 940!!

[redboy]

Volvo was most profitable when it had a limited range that sold on its reputation for bombproof, reliable, safe and reasonably fast cars. (the '50s-70s.) The Chinese market is where the US market was post-war. Car hungry. A 'new amazon' would offer something genuinely different to the majority of production there.

Volvo recognised that they were not a high volume car maker, but medium volume. Cars had a long (perhaps too long) lifespan in terms of number of years for each body design, but this gave them time to develop a customer base, iron out defects, and spread development costs over a longer period.

The majority of cost to a manufacutrer in producing a car is the design and tooling for a new model. The more models a car company has, the more it has invested before it can see a dime in return. By the time the old 240 retired, it was a very high profit car, in spite of its labour intensive nature to build.

If Geely wants to make Volvo profitable, they need to research what market sector Volvos would be most profitable in, produce a car to fit it, limit the number of variations and 'toys' on it, and focus on Volvo's core value of solidity. This means using high quality components, testing them for longevity, rectifying, and then not changing the body design to follow fashion.

I disagree with the BBC report stating that high volume is the way forward. This has never reaped rewards for luxury car makers in the long run- look at Mercedes when they tried to increase production in the '90s. The backlash against the fall in quality hurt the marque in a way that people don't really think of Mercedes as good cars anymore.

If 'new' Volvo could once again become known as cars for a lifetime, they would find that they have a ready market, not only the West, but also in the developing economies. A luxury car purchase is a much higher percentage of income to the 'wealthy' in developing countries than here.

If ChinaVolvo wants to make inroads in the developing luxury car market, they need to recognise that there are already lots of manufacturers there making poorly made 'luxury' cars, but few that are able to make 'iconic' cars- those whose cachet outlives the fashions of the day. Likewise, most European 'luxury' cars aren't that well made either. As the quality declines, they enter a more level playing field with the Chinese domestics.

I swore off modern cars long ago, as the quality kept going down just as the number of gizmos went up. Geely has a unique opportunity to de-ford Volvo, if they so choose. However, if they just use the Volvo badge as extra cachet for their luxury Geely 'BountifulHappiness 2300' they will quickly find the investment in the company to be worthless.

[Chris740R]

Originally Posted by OldBlueVolvo

In the video, did you see the production worker hitting the bonnet with a mallet?

yes! What the?!? I have biscuit crumbs everywhere now.

[4 forty]

volvo have made 49 million dollars in the first quater of this year, read below

http://www.swedishwire.com/component...ings-to-profit

[grass hopper]

wtf.gif

nice technical adjustment there,think 2 swings with mallet would have sorted.

[ITServe]

Just how stupid are the directors of Ford?!

I couldn't help notice how awkward the Ford guy looked at the press conference - check it out on the Volvo Cars Corporate website if it is still there.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by 4 forty

volvo have made 49 million dollars in the first quater of this year, read below

http://www.swedishwire.com/component...ings-to-profit

volvo now have 2% of the new car market in uk once again :-)

[Volvon]

I've sat here and wrote 5 different things about China and how the world is heading into a catastophic recession because of them. But I just kept deleting them, because at the end of day, whats the point; it wont change anything. China is making the rest of the worlds industry redundant because no-one can compete with them financially. The 80's will feel like a happy memory compared to the recession we are heading for if this keeps up. Doom-mongering over.