Volvo News: Volvo's U.S. CEO Says New Products Are Coming

[William Maley]

Volvo Cars of North America's CEO Tony Nicolosi recently sat down with Automotive News and said the company wants to have one percent of the American marketplace within the five years. That represents around 150,000 to 160,000 vehicles. A bit ambitious considering the brand only sold 61,000 vehicles last year. To help reach this goal, the company plans on launching a product offensive that begins early next year with the XC90.

"Once you see us get to XC90 next March, doors open and in dealerships, you will see a new product launch on an annual basis -- and sometimes less than every year. Within six months of the XC90 launch, we will have a plug-in hybrid version. We have told our dealers that by the end of 2017, the XC90 will be the oldest car in their showroom," said Nicolosi.

Nicolosi also talked about Volvo's new Drive-E engine family, which are all four-cylinders that feature turbo or turbo/supercharging. He said the new family will appear in all Volvo models except the upcoming XC90.

"It is no longer about cylinders; it is about performance and fuel economy. We can achieve the performance of a six- and eight- with a four-cylinder engine. The days of counting cylinders are behind us."

As the V40, Nicolosi said the company has no plans on bringing the current one over, but could reconsider when the new one is due out in a couple years.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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[A Horse With No Name]

They need better marketing. They are rapidly becoming as invisible as Mitsu in this market.

[G. David Felt]

Volvo WHO?????? Marketing, Auto's that people would like to own and something that inspires.

Really they will always be a Niche player. See if they survive past 2025

[A Horse With No Name]

Volvo WHO?????? Marketing, Auto's that people would like to own and something that inspires.

Really they will always be a Niche player. See if they survive past 2025

Toyota and Honda were once niche players, and to an extent VW group/Audi still is. But VW is at least doing some of the right things to stay here, and Toyota and Honda obviously did the right things to build sales. Volvo, methinks, is going the other way.

2025 might be optimistic.....I see more Teslas on the road than Volvos here in Ohio. Probably because they sell almost zero of the newer ones, and the Ohio tin worm has destroyed most of the older ones.

[regfootball]

they sort of lost their base when the S80 lost interest and the wagons went away and their large crossover is ten years old.

Plus they fell off the map with their marketing and advertising and I think a chunk of the population forgot about them.

[SoCalCTS]

They literally lost their edge when they went to the melted rounded styling. I'm happy to see that the concept cars have sharper lines and a more aggressive stance. I'd buy any of the concepts in a heartbeat.

[A Horse With No Name]

The concepts are nice, but a car needs marketing and a dealer network willing to sell it to make a go of it. Lots of great cars, such as the Honda S2000, were world class but they had no marketing behind them. i fear the same fate for the next generation of Volvos.

[smk4565]

I am surprised Volvo is still here now, I also doubt they make it to 2025. All their stuff is really dated, the S80 is based on the Ford Five Hundred platform from 2005 I think, they still use that inline six from the 90s, turbo 5's from the 90s, etc. When they bring out the Drive-E engine in 2015, it is a turbo and supercharged 4 cylinder with 300 hp. The Mustang has a turbo 4 making 300 hp so it isn't totally new stuff. If they deliver 300 hp and 35 mpg highway that is a nice combo. But no one will notice it with their weak marketing.

This business of "we don't count cylinders and we can get the performance of a 6 or 8 from our Drive-E engine" is baloney. Do they realize that V8s are making 400-500 hp? There are V6s making over 400 hp. Their new Drive-E makes 302 hp max. I'd like to see the 4 cylinder Volvo S80 that outruns a CTS V-sport or E550 in a 0-60 sprint.

[pow]

It's okay. They've made an ad with Robyn! Filmed in LA:

[G. David Felt]

FAILURE!, That video did NOTHING to convince me to buy a Volvo. Clearly out of touch with consumers.

[A Horse With No Name]

I do like that she is driving a wagon...beats a minivan any day!