General: S40/V50 Now dead?

[S40 Squared]

Originally Posted by MtillingVolvo

Rightly or Wrongly the New V40 is aimed at people who are new to the Volvo brand. I think I’ve only sold 1 so far to an existing Volvo customer, and that was replacing an older V70 as they didn't need anything as big any more and wanted 5 doors.

The V40 is expensive when compared to a C30, but not particularly when compared with an A3/A-Class/1-Series, so guess that’s why we're selling a lot of them to people outside of the Volvo Brand......just my view from the ground floor, but kind of ties in with peoples views on here by the sounds of things?

Also the 0% finance and service pack is helping a lot on V40 and is something which I don’t believe the competition is offering on similar vehicles..think Merc are doing 4.9% finance as an example.....

Remember, Volvo need to sell more cars world wide and to do this they have to hit BMW, Audi and MB customers with the V40. It is a good car, no doubt about it and it is needed if Volvo is going to grow and not die like SAAB did.

Replacing the S40 is understandable as you do not see many small saloon cars around in the uk - they are all hatches or Qashqai's. Dropping the V50 may have been a bad idea. I liked them as courtesy cars - ideal for young families with ample space. The problem is I wont swop my 2004 S40 for a newer S40/V50 because the MPG is not as good on the newer models (drive excluded) and the tax is dearer.

When the time comes to change it will be for an S60 D5 185bhp (old shape and old school) or something with more space like an i40 estate, unless I move to the 'Big Smoke' (London) and end up in a snot box or worse, public transport.

China (as I was advised by a dealer and a friend in the business) is a main reason for the Volvo model lineup being revamped. Volvo is heading upmarket and needs to move from no-man's-land between ford, vauxhall and BMW, Audi to survive. Saab was stuck inbetween the 2 sectors of the market and died. Volvo at least is trying to improve and will probably succeed.

[volvorocks]

Originally Posted by MtillingVolvo

Rightly or Wrongly the New V40 is aimed at people who are new to the Volvo brand. I think I’ve only sold 1 so far to an existing Volvo customer, and that was replacing an older V70 as they didn't need anything as big any more and wanted 5 doors.

The V40 is expensive when compared to a C30, but not particularly when compared with an A3/A-Class/1-Series, so guess that’s why we're selling a lot of them to people outside of the Volvo Brand......just my view from the ground floor, but kind of ties in with peoples views on here by the sounds of things?

Also the 0% finance and service pack is helping a lot on V40 and is something which I don’t believe the competition is offering on similar vehicles..think Merc are doing 4.9% finance as an example.....

I see what you are saying in so far as Volvo are hoping to ‘widen their horizons’ with a new type of customer, and perhaps take sales from A3,A class I series etc. They probably will, but will they take enough? I doubt it.They have to appeal to a wider group of customers,rather than the established die hard Volvo fan. I would take a V40 any day over the three mentioned. However the trick is to convince others to think likewise and that’s where Volvo will struggle.

The problem is its always extremely difficult to take on the ‘established’ market leaders, the manufacturers that are seen as THE brands, and infiltrate this.

Take for example the slow selling S60 and V60. Pretty good cars - and pretty cars as well, although not particularly fast sellers. Why? Because most people are on ‘auto pilot’ in this price bracket and immediately choose BMW as a default choice.

So what Volvo did was simply lower the prices on certain specs and also introduce fleet friendly versions such as Business Edition and offer attractive leasing rates, along with providing vehicles for the hire/rental firms. This was a move to ‘kinda like put the vehicles out for customer testing’. Result was they sold more S and V60’s. because more people were attracted at this price.

If Volvo placed themselves (price wise and customer perception wise) above the mass market Fords Vauxhalls Citroens Hyundais and the like, but lower than the BMW Mercedes Audi guys etc I reckon they would have a winning formula and quite simply sell more cars, and be more profitable overall.

Take Hyundais approach (and Kia), they have generally come along in spades over the last few years for reliable honest down to earth cost effective vehicles, although dull. They are however now moving up a bracket with more stylish, better driving and 'exciting' vehicles (??) - but just take a look at the pricing!!..ouch… which I believe is a bad move, as they will never be seen as premium.

Regards

[S40 Squared]

Originally Posted by volvorocks

I see what you are saying in so far as Volvo are hoping to ‘widen their horizons’ with a new type of customer, and perhaps take sales from A3,A class I series etc. They probably will, but will they take enough? I doubt it.They have to appeal to a wider group of customers,rather than the established die hard Volvo fan. I would take a V40 any day over the three mentioned. However the trick is to convince others to think likewise and that’s where Volvo will struggle.

The problem is its always extremely difficult to take on the ‘established’ market leaders, the manufacturers that are seen as THE brands, and infiltrate this.

Take for example the slow selling S60 and V60. Pretty good cars - and pretty cars as well, although not particularly fast sellers. Why? Because most people are on ‘auto pilot’ in this price bracket and immediately choose BMW as a default choice.

So what Volvo did was simply lower the prices on certain specs and also introduce fleet friendly versions such as Business Edition and offer attractive leasing rates, along with providing vehicles for the hire/rental firms. This was a move to ‘kinda like put the vehicles out for customer testing’. Result was they sold more S and V60’s. because more people were attracted at this price.

If Volvo placed themselves (price wise and customer perception wise) above the mass market Fords Vauxhalls Citroens Hyundais and the like, but lower than the BMW Mercedes Audi guys etc I reckon they would have a winning formula and quite simply sell more cars, and be more profitable overall.

Take Hyundais approach (and Kia), they have generally come along in spades over the last few years for reliable honest down to earth cost effective vehicles, although dull. They are however now moving up a bracket with more stylish, better driving and 'exciting' vehicles (??) - but just take a look at the pricing!!..ouch… which I believe is a bad move, as they will never be seen as premium.

Regards

That is why I would consider (apart from 00-08 S60) a change to a hyundai I40 estate - bigger than V50, 5 year warranty and get one a couple of years old for 60% new cost. They also look good and have rewritten peoples perception of the brand. Only the dealer experience marks them down (badly).

Volvo is going the right way - their cars are more premium than mass market ford vw etc and more reliable. They either head for lexus, infiniti and BMW or go down to vw and ford. To succeed in China and maintain their business they need to go up in quality and image. At the same time, whilst chasing new customers they must also remember their loyal following - fundamental rule of business.

The other thing is that solid residuals mean cheap leasing deals - why the german cars are everywhere on the roads. If volvo sorted that out then it would help sales and their fleet market presence.