Volvo To Build VW Golf Competitor, Take 2
New Volvo (and former VWoA) CEO Stefan Jacoby is (once again) targeting his former employer’s best selling Golf with an upcoming entry-level Volvo due in 2012. Autocar.uk reports that Jacoby has initiated a major reshuffling of Volvo’s future product line and brand positioning, which will now be (once again) based on the theme “functionality and Scandinavian elegance” and further away from sportiness. It appears this direction will also de-emphasize large CUVs, since developing a replacement for the elderly XC90 will give way (for now, at least) to the priority of a compact hatchback, which Volvo has not built since the (non-US) 1990 340 (above).
The upcoming Golf-competitor will presumably be based on the current C30, and not a new platform. But it will debut a new “face” for Volvo. Once again.
More by Paul Niedermeyer
Comments
Join the conversation
The 440/460 were Golf class cars - more like the Jetta in fact but same thing. My mom had a 460 and it was definitely smaller than the second gen Jetta she had before (the one based on Golf 2). It was far from a great car and we kept it for a short time only. Qualitywise it just did not compare to the 'Made in Sweden' Volvo's and sadly the seats were several grades below, too.
So what do they consider the current C30, if not a competitor to the Golf? I mean, the Golf can come in 2 or 4 doors (or 3 and 5, if you subscribe to the school of thought that a person, regardless of other more convenient means, will use a rear hatch as a "door"), while the C30 only comes in the 2 (3) door format. So I guess that alone would force some people to not even consider the C30 if they were in the market for a small, 4 (5) door vehicle like that. That fact aside though, what's the C30 competing with now? I always just figured it was the Golf. Apparently not.
Audi A3 is in essence a Golf in drag, and from what I perceive here, there are few customers that would not cross shop the two. Generally there is also not that much of a price difference in Europe, if you are talking equivalent versions (and most A3s here are of the small petrol, or diesel versions, just like with the Golf). The one group of customers, who would go for an A3 but not a Golf are probably pensioners - people for whom it is the last, rather than the first Audi. In essence people who drove Audi for quite some time but no longer need the space and hassle (parking, maneuvring, etc.) of an A4 or A6, but would like to stay with the brand. And sporty is not the ticket there. That's therefore a part of the population the C30 will have difficulties in capturing. And if you wanted sporty (in Europe) on a Ford Focus platform (i.e. C30, S40, V50), you'd do best with the Ford Focus itself - the ST220 and the RS both have Volvo 5cyl turbo petrols, a better sound and a handling so much superior that a C30 driver will have trouble knowing which way they went. With much more space inside, too.
I like the direction Jacoby is taking, despite initial angst following the Jetta North America edition. The two important points here are: first Volvo must go back to it's roots and not try to compete against the likes of Mercedes and Audi, and second, Volvo's home market is Europe and effort must be made to compete it Europe, not the U.S. - that is where Ford went significantly wrong - the U.S., becoming less and less important, and with the expectation of U.S. consumers to pay bargain prices (one of the cheapest places to buy a new car), focus should be placed on important markets that are profitable. America is no longer as important to the rest of the world as Americans think - time to get out of your Americo-centric attitudes.