Volvo drops the box

The car that has long represented the brand image of Volvo Down Under -- the traditional boxy wagon -- is dead. According to Volvo Car Australia managing director Alan Desselss, the current V70 is not likely to be replaced with the all-new model that is due to be unveiled at next month's Geneva motor show (more here).

The V70 and its predecessors -- which trace their roots back to the original 240 series that was first launched here in 1975 -- have long been among Volvo's best sellers and cars that defined the brand for many Australians being a safe, practical, family wagon.

Back in the late 1990s, the V70 was the company's second-biggest model with annual volumes of between 800 and 1000 units, however, with sales of the current V70 limping along at a rate of less than 10 a month, Desselss says it is no longer a viable proposition for the company.

"It is very clearly Volvo's heartland but with a change in fashion into crossover vehicles, it really has put the traditional wagon market under a lot of strain. The V70 is in doubt just simply because of the market size. There is a definite swing away from traditional wagons towards crossover vehicles and SUVs."

With that in mind, the company is expected to take the new XC70 -- the higher riding AWD version of the V70 that will also be launched at Geneva -- but that model won't be here until early 2008.

While the dropping of the V70 may mark the end of an era for the Swedish carmaker in Australia, it is an era from which it is happy to move on. Desselss is well aware of the image problem that Volvo has although he says it is changing and new products like the S80 sedan launched to the media last week, are part of the solution.

"[The] Bloody Volvo Driver [advertising] was the catalyst for the start of a campaign to convince customers to look at Volvo with different eyes," says Desselss.

But he says that the slogan needed product to back it up and now with the XC90, S40, V50, new C70 hardtop convertible, S80 sedan (pictured) and forthcoming C30 hatch, Volvo has the sort of line-up to take it in a new direction.

"I still see safety as a very important and integral part of where we are at but one of the differences that we have introduced with the newer models is a greater emphasis on styling and performance."

"We have to work on the image of Volvo and we have to get more people to experience the cars because I am convinced once we get the bum into the seat half the job is done."

And the S80 may well be a case in point. While the previous generation S80 slipped off local sales lists at the end of 2005 after a disappointing response from local media and buyers, the new model is an altogether different beast.

Topping the range is an all-wheel drive version that sports Volvo's first-ever V8 engine (shared with the XC90) and is priced from $95,950. The V8 is a transversely-mounted 4.4-litre unit that generates maximum outputs of 232kW and 440Nm, providing a claimed 0-100kmh sprint time of 6.5sec.

The mid-range $75,950 model that will be available from March uses a new Volvo-designed 3.2-litre inline six (the engine debuted in sister firm Land Rover's new Freelander 2 SUV) that develops 175kW of power and 320Nm of torque and is also all-wheel drive.

The third and entry-level model is the front-wheel drive $71,950 S80 D5 that is powered by a 136kW/400Nm 2.4-litre five-cylinder turbodiesel.

All three engines drive through a six-speed automatic transmission and come very well specced for the price.

Standard equipment across the S80 range includes Volvo's Four-C adaptive variable damping system, ABS, DSTC stability and traction control system and dual stage front and side driver and passenger airbags and side curtain airbags. Comfort and convenience kit runs to remote keyless entry and starting, climate control, heated power front seats, windows and mirrors, adjustable assistance for the power steering, active Bi-Xenon headlights, and a high quality six-stack MP3 compatible CD audio system.

While the new V8 S80 goes part of the way to improving Volvo's performance image, Desselss admits that more needs to be done and points to the expected increase in the R line of products as evidence of this.

"We are starting to develop relationships with companies like Evolve in the US and Heico Sportiv in Germany to look at body styling kits, wheels, performance enhancing programs and we have to do that."

He expects the first of these new R lines to be offered on the S40/V50 and C30 some time in 2008.

As well as performance products, he says the company's future lies in its increasing number of crossover/SUV products, with the V50-based XC60 that was shown in concept form at January's Detroit motor show expected on sale here in 2009.

The Lexus RX350-style softroader will join the wagon-based XC70 and Volvo's seven-seat XC90 SUV to complete the Volvo crossover line-up.

Look out for our launch review of the S80 here soon.

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