He's the marketing director. Of a car company. It's not a commodities trading pit.
Volvo marketing boss denounces motorsport
#51
Posted 23 December 2014 - 03:07
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#52
Posted 23 December 2014 - 23:16
The bottom line is share holder value .It has to take control.Motor racing is not an efficient way to market a product.Bleeding money into a program that only appeals to a small fragment of buyers isnt good business.Look at Toyota(F1,LeMan ,yikes) IMO there efforts have done more harm than good .Volvo is probably along the same lines,.cardigan cars, not boy racers.
When i think of Volvos i think of this despite them racing for the last twenty years.
#53
Posted 23 December 2014 - 23:21
That's fine, Volvo are a boring company who make boring cars anyway. Whenever I think of Volvo's I think of the old 240 Station Wagon my geography teacher used to drive.
Didn't Breaking Bad's Gus Fring drive a Volvo? Boring is what they want you to think.
#54
Posted 24 December 2014 - 06:57
Right hand, meet left hand.
#55
Posted 24 December 2014 - 07:45
#56
Posted 24 December 2014 - 11:47
I'm a tad confused. Yes, people buy things online, but a whole damn car? No test drive? Really?
Apparently an amazingly high percentage of people buy new cars without a test drive. It's inexplicable, I know, but true. So they might as well buy on-line and avoid having to deal with a car salesman. Even with on-line fraud, you are less likely to get ripped off!
#57
Posted 24 December 2014 - 12:46
Apparently an amazingly high percentage of people buy new cars without a test drive. It's inexplicable, I know, but true. So they might as well buy on-line and avoid having to deal with a car salesman. Even with on-line fraud, you are less likely to get ripped off!
Better yet, the company stops paying sales bonus. Hence why dealers are getting nervous.
Except.....
Im not sure if that's how it works with Volvo (probably not considering their low sales), but in a lot of car companies the builder is making it's money by offloading the cars to the dealers. So the actual risk of devalue is on the dealers side. In countries like the US, Germany and the UK it's probably possible to buy a car directly to the builder but in a lot of countries the sales network is run by importers that buy the cars to the builder and then offload those cars to the dealers.
Direct sales may increase the income (since the builder is getting the dealers slice) but ultimatley Volvo will not make as much money upfront since no one is buying large stocks of cars.
And yes... buying a car without trying...
#58
Posted 24 December 2014 - 19:07
This is what come to mind when thinking of Volvo.
#59
Posted 24 December 2014 - 22:35
I must have imagined the last decade or two where Volvo have made an effort to move their image away from the tired, staid one they had, where they only appealed to older people.
The odd sporty models throughout the range, the much improved and more dynamic looking vehicles, and the whole R Design 'sporty' option on their cars, all backed up with a bit of motorsport here and there to help change perception.
Here in the UK, I would say I see more Volvo's on the road than ever before, and I believe that's due in large part to a more sporty / performance image and perception.
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#60
Posted 24 December 2014 - 23:43
Nothing new here. Volvo made the PV544 and 122 Amazon into sought after "sports" cars via rallying, On one of the last appearances of a "works" PV544, a road accident on the Gulf London Rally killed Gunnar Thermaenius, co-driver to Tom Trana (and a British girl in a non-competing car). Trana was unable to come to the UK in November 65 to go for a hat trick of RAC Rally wins because of possible pending charges. Then, when a Volvo works service crew was killed on the 66 Acropolis Rally, they pulled the plug on official motorsport (but Trana's "private" entry took 3rd on the 66 RAC Rally, so it wasn't entirely as it seemed).
Edited by RS2000, 24 December 2014 - 23:43.
#61
Posted 25 December 2014 - 01:01
People don't buy a car based on how fast it goes. Volvo do build some really tasty cars, some are quite fast, but they are all built to a high standard. If you had to drive 4 hours to a destination, your prime objectives would be to get there safely and comfortably. Safety and comfort are more important than speed. otherwise we'd all be driving tvr's.
#62
Posted 25 December 2014 - 01:44
#63
Posted 25 December 2014 - 01:53
My belief is that if Volvo is betting their brand on safety as they did in the past, they'll go down the drain. Because safety is paramound these days. Renault does it better than them FFS!
But who gives a damn anyway. Manufacturers kill motosport more than they nurture and entice it. Good riddance. Wish they'd all release their stranglehold in the world of motorsport.
#64
Posted 25 December 2014 - 04:59
Does motorsport play an active part in anyone's car buying decision anyway? I've only just bought a Volvo C30, I chose it because it looks great, is fast enough while still being economical and is comfortable. (The heated leather seats warm up so fast!) Maybe motorsport plays a part for the idiots you see in Audis, who seem to think they're racing in the DTM, tailgating on the motorway, but I don't think that's Volvo's target market.