Volvo Will Export Chinese-Made Cars To America
Published: June 18th, 2014
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Honda may have been the first OEM to bring Chinese-made cars to North America, but their Made-In-China Fit never arrived in the United States. Now, it looks like Volvo will be the first brand to import Chinese-made cars to America.
Reuters is reporting that Volvo will import the S60L (for long wheelbase) sedan to the United States, with volumes of around 10,000 units per year. The S60L is identical to the S60, save for a 3.1 inch longer wheelbase, for enhanced rear seat comfort. Volvo did not confirm which models will actually come to the United States, but a Volvo spokesman confirmed to Reuters that exports from China are indeed planned for Volvo.
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I rented an S60 a few months ago and drove from Denver to Vail. VERY nice design inside and out and the car drove well, but it was not sporty compared to its competitors. It actually drove a bit like a shrunken down Hyundai Genesis sedan, in that it felt very stable and quiet at speed on the highway. Problem is, the back seat is very short on legroom. I'm 6 feet tall and when the front seat was positioned well for me, there wasn't enough room to put a kid back there. There was definitely not room for a rear facing infant car seat. When I returned home, I was reminded how much better packaged for rear legroom space my 3er is. A stretched S60 is a very good idea, although I would be afraid that it might screw up the exterior look.
Volvo is making another big mistake. I highly doubt China is in a condition to manufacture cars with a level of quality. Trust is a major issue too. Someone is going to build a plant next to the Volvo plant and build something very similar using actual Volvo parts. It's happened to IBM, Nissan, etc and the Chinese will keep doing it as long as we give them the opportunities.
I like the Volvo S60, but not enough to buy one new. The problem is the price is too high, the size is too small, and the shape looks like a much less expensive Honda Civic. Fixing the size/shape by making the middle 3 inches longer and building it in China sounds like a winner to me. Really like the new efficient motors mated to the Aisin 8 speed automatic transmission. Hope more manufacturers use those excellent automatic transmissions from the Toyota/Lexus parts bin.
"Made in China" is part of general corporate cost-cutting which is apparent everywhere. China is simply the best low cost manufacturer. Nowhere else in the world do you so find so many people that can work long hours and reasonably assemble things at low cost. The game ends, though, when the labor pool dries up and when they want their piece of the pie, which eventually happens everywhere. I still maintain that the Germans and Japanese at the top of their game are the best builders of things. Show me something where the parts and labor are all finished by them, and it will generally be to a high standard.