Volvo Special: S80 First Drive Report


350Z

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Volvo India yesterday launched an updated model of S80 Diesel which emits comparatively less levels of CO2. There are no major exterior changes but small additions such as cabin air filter which helps to prevent dust coming inside the cabin. I'm attaching the official Press Release from Volvo Auto, below;

The New Volvo S80 – first class exclusiveness and driving propertiesHigh-performance, twin-turbo Diesel with 205 hp and 420 Nm of torque
Priced competitively at Rs. 38.79 lakhs (Ex-showroom Mumbai) & Rs. 37 lakhs (Ex-showroom Delhi)

Mumbai, February 03, 2010: Volvo has made a fast start to the New Year by sharpening its diesel offering for the Indian market. The refreshed Volvo S80 for model year 2010 has an even tougher and exclusive design than before, while providing top-class fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, performance coupled with Volvo’s signature safety features. The latest generation D5 Twin-Turbo diesel engine takes performance, fuel efficiency and refinement to entirely new levels. All this reinforces the model’s position in the premium sedan segment and satisfies customers with high demands.
Delighted with the enhanced technology, Paul de Voijs, Managing Director, Volvo Auto India, said,

“Sometimes a subtle ‘hum’ is more powerful than a roar. With the new S80, we’re placing the bar at the highest level when it comes to exclusiveness, quality and driving properties. Our mission was to develop a modern diesel engine – with the benefits that go with them – which also meets the emission EURO 5. This is yet another step in our determination to reduce the combustion engine’s environmental impact, at the same time as we give customers a truly quiet and sophisticated engine with excellent performance. However, the refreshed S80 should not just be seen, it has to be experienced.”

The D5 engine has several advanced technical features. With the latest Twin Turbo and Peizo high-pressure technology, the inspiring five-cylinder state -of-art will be high on performance and low on fuel consumption to a record low for a car in this class. A maintenance free diesel particulate filter effectively reduces soot particles in exhaust gases and advanced emission control contributes to low nitrogen oxide level – the new D5 already comply with stringent, upcoming Euro 5 exhaust emission requirements. Volvo is the only car company in India to offer the DPF feature across all its diesel models from the beginning of its operations in the country.

All-new five-cylinder diesel engine
The driving experience in the refreshed Volvo S80 has been elevated with an entirely new twin-turbo five-cylinder 2.4-litre diesel. The new D5 engine offers 205 horsepower, 420 Nm of torque over a very wide range of engine revs. The Fuel consumption and CO2 emission for the car stands at 13.1 kmpl and 203gms/km respectively – a record-low figure for a car of this size and performance level. This state-of-the-art engine delivers a plush drive.

Get the Volvo Advantage
Volvo, the luxury car brand in India provides you with the first of its kind service. Service your Volvo free of charge upto 2 years or 60,000 kms (whichever is earlier). The servicing takes care of all the consumables and schedules maintenances. It however does not include replacement of tyres. Volvo also gives 24×7 road assistance service to ensure that the journey is smooth and uninterrupted.
Design

With complete chrome detailing on the air intakes, lower part of the door moldings, exhaust and under the tail lamps, the exterior changes give the car a more distinctive, dynamic design and striking face. The interior design offers a distinctive blend of intelligent, elegant and unpretentious Scandinavian style characterized by clean surfaces, harmonious lines, exciting contrasts and smooth function for a dynamic and harmonious interior atmosphere.
Safety

An uncompromising ambition to both protect and celebrate life, being human in nature is what makes a Volvo, a Volvo.

Volvo Cars has a holistic approach to safety, which encompasses both preventive and protective safety. Distinctive features include:
* IDIS (Intelligent Driver Information System), that help the driver maintain better control over the traffic situation
* Personal Car Communicator (PCC) is an advanced control centre in pocket format.
* ABL – (Adaptive Brake light), which can sense the difference between normal and panic braking
* RAB- (Ready Alert Brakes), reduces the braking distance further when anticipates an emergency braking
* DSTC–(Dynamic Stability Traction Control) is stability control technology which helps prevent spinouts and roll overs.
* WHIPS – (Whiplash Protection System), which cradles the front seat occupants in a controlled manner to help prevent whiplash injuries.
* Like the rest of the Volvo range, the Volvo S80 features a transversely installed engine.

The environment and air quality
The Volvo S80 is built and equipped to impact as little as possible on the global environment, and to provide a clean and healthy in-car environment. Volvo IAQS (Interior Air Quality System) effectively reduces the amount of particles, pollen, gases and certain unpleasant odours in the air that enters the passenger compartment.






Drive Safe,
350Z
 
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Nice to hear that there is not greater price hike!

With no increase in price & launching a car with lower emission norms is great move!
 
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Yes this is great news , added features with no price hike! The FE is good for a car of this class. But still the main problem persists in A.S.S! How much ever the car maybe reliable but still customers look for A.S.S greatly before buying a car and that is why Maruti still tops the charts!
 

350Z

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Yes this is great news , added features with no price hike! The FE is good for a car of this class. But still the main problem persists in A.S.S! How much ever the car maybe reliable but still customers look for A.S.S greatly before buying a car and that is why Maruti still tops the charts!
The segment in which Maruti Suzuki produces the cars and the Volvo are altogether different class. We don't see Mercedes Service centers at every other stop but Yes, comparatively they are at least more than of Volvo but the area on which Volvo currently requires to concentrate is marketing and brand building in country, otherwise the Volvo range offered in India is overall fantastic, All it lags behind is due to Brand which the consumer base in country hasn't still accepted because for them "Mercedes" and "BMW" sounds much strong and moreover adds a bonus to their status.

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350Z
 
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Yes 350Z i was actually comparing Mercedes BMW and AUDI only! Sorry for not being specific and not mentioning that in my previous post. BMW's and Audi's are cheaper than Volvo and have better brand image too!
 
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Yes. Merc, Beemers & Audi has more brand value than Volvo.

But volvo targets altogether a different class of people. Volvo stands apart in build quality & safety when compared to Merc & BMW.

Volvo's safety feature are only available in 80+ lakhs of Beemers & Merc.
 
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Oh i din know this!! Then surely VolvoS80 is VFM indeed!! Though they could improve the exteriors and make it a bit more stylish to pull some more customers!! After all we people have become more style conscious nowadays!
 
Thread Starter #38
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There are style concious cars from Volvo!

It hasn't hit India yeat!!

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Till then enjoy it!
 
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Actually still am not pretty much impressed with the styling. The biggest change which must be done to these cars is cut out the big protruding nose!
 
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actually Volvo is a good brand and competes equally with BMW and Merc around the world. But India is a new chapter so they are still understanding the situation. Anywyas this is one heck of a car. This is similar to the Jag XF. People will buy it only for exclusivity so i really dont expect big sales of this!
 

350Z

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Yesterday we were discussing about dealership network of Volvo, I just found a good news. Volvo is planning to spread its base in India by increasing the dealerships from 7 to 12. Currently, They have dealers in Delhi, Cochi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Chandigarh, Pune and Mumbai, whereas the new dealerships will include Kolkata, Goa, Ahmedabad and Coimbatore.


"We are planning to launch two new models -- the Volvo XC60 and S60 -- in the next two years in India. The XC60 will be launched in 2010 and S60 will be unveiled by the end of 2011," Voijs said. Volvo in India has sold over 300 cars so far.

"We are not in number games. We have come to India for the long-term," he said. The Swedish company started its operations in India as a division of Ford Motors in 2007. Later in 2009, Volvo Cars separated from Ford and renamed the wholly-owned subsidiary as Volvo Auto India.

Drive Safe,
350Z
 
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Yes Bangalore seems a noticeable exception , but am sure they must be working on it!


This is good news for them! Hope they find more dealers and get their strategy rightly worked out!

So is the XC60 and the S60 scaled down versions of their brothers??
 
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Not in Bangalore?[surprise]
In my honest opinion, every new car entrant like volvo which can not set up many dealerships at once should at least consider to open dealerships in main cities (which i've named below) so that they can fetch more buyers rather than opening them in goa where there are hardly few buyers for such cars.
  • New Delhi
  • Chandigarh
  • Mumbai
  • Kolkata
  • Chennai
  • Bangalore
  • Hyderabad

So is the XC60 and the S60 scaled down versions of their brothers??
Yup, but looks far more stylish than their bigger siblings.
 
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Interview with Paul de Voijs, managing director, Volvo Auto India



Volvo has been present in India for some time now but still the brand remains unknown to many?
Volvo Auto is relatively still new to the market. Although, we had a Ford backing, Volvo always took its own decisions. We opened our first dealership in March 2008 in Chandigarh which makes us a very young player in the market and there is a strong reason why we haven’t made much noise in the Indian market till today. For any company to become a brand takes some time. Volvo might be a reckoned name outside India but here one has to start from scratch. We did not want to come to India and launch an ‘x’ amount of cars; idea was to go at a slower pace and make people get used to the brand. Exploding into the market with too much hype didn’t make sense to us. This is probably one of the reasons why people are not much aware about Volvo cars in India but we are now increasing the marketing and branding activities for the cars in India.

What kind of branding activities are being undertaken by Volvo?
The most successful branding exercise that paid off well for the company was the use of Volvo XC90 R-design in the movie 3 Idiots. When the ideation began we weren’t sure how successful the efforts would pay off. It was a big budget movie with Aamir Khan; will people take notice of a car in a movie, what if the movie fails to hit the jackpot at box office? There were so many questions but we decided to go ahead because the characters in the movie had a striking resemblance to the characteristics of the vehicle – vibrant, energetic and sporty. After having tasted success we have accelerated a few other plans, in fact, our advertising agency is working over time to chalk out some good campaigns.



What pole position do you foresee for yourself in the premium sedan market?
We are not in the number game; we haven’t decided that we have to sell ‘n’ number of cars in India by the end of this year or fiscal. When I was given the charge of India, I had told the company specifically not to expect any superficial results in the first few years. We want to make our foundations strong first which will help us to serve the Indian customers well. We could have entered India announcing a 10 dealership deal across India but we didn’t do that because managing the same would have been cumbersome and ultimately can lead to bad results, which is why people feel we are ‘aggressive’ enough.

The luxury sedan market in India is very niche and naive. How do you justify your entry to India and lying so low in marketing?
India is a country of hatchbacks and the luxury car segment is very small in India, I think around 0.5 per cent. But the potential that India has is tremendous. The recession in India is over, the standard of living has increased and there is surplus money to splurge. The economy too is growing at a good pace compared to world standards and this is what makes the country interesting.



The cars that will be launched in India, will that have the same specifications as your international launches?
Yes, very much. We do not believe in getting watered down versions for the Indian market nor any outgoing models. We do not want our Indian audience to feel any different than our international ones. The cars might come a little late to India but it would be what is available internationally. As a matter of fact, Volvo could have launched the S60 in India but we decided not to because it was phasing out internationally and was to be replaced with a newer version. We decided to launch only the new one here. That is our commitment to India.

You have worked in more than six countries. What difference do you find in the Indian market compared to others?
The Indian market is dynamic and growing. In fact, India has a striking resemblance to the Russian market. Like in Russia, in India too cars are associated with the status symbol. The better you do in life, the bigger the car will become which is primarily the main reason why weekend getaway cars didn’t do well here. A decade back the Russian market for luxury sedans was around 0.5% and now the market has grown to 5.5%, so I am hoping that the Indian luxury car market which is also around the same to grow to that level in the next few years.



Coming to the unveiling of the new S80, the car is priced very competitively at Rs38.79 lakhs considering the twin turbo engine that it sports? How will you cut a profit?
Yes, the pricing of the car has been kept at that level deliberately. We could have put a tag of Rs 45-50 lakh for the car but since we are here for long term, we wanted to provide as many features as possible at a reasonable price. At this price tag we will be taking a dig at our own pockets. We might also increase the price in a couple of months as this is an introductory offer. But yes the pricing have been kept at this level to attract customers.

Do you plan to have Volvo showrooms in the near future? How do you plan to interact with customers?
We do not have any plans in the immediate future. We have always been helped by the word of mouth publicity. People who bought our cars recommend us highly and it has helped us a lot in sales. As of now it’s just dealerships. We would soon be having dealership agreements in Bangalore, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Goa etc


Source - Carwale
 

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