The Beginning of the End?

[budrichard]

"DEARBORN, MI – Ford Motor Company announced today that Hans-Olov Olsson will retire from the company effective Jan. 1, 2007. Simultaneously, the Board of Directors of Volvo Cars elected Lewis Booth Chairman of the Board succeeding Mr. Olsson. Mr. Booth, 58, continues in his role as Executive Vice President, Ford of Europe and Premier Automotive Group.

Mr. Olsson, 64, was non-executive Chairman, Volvo Cars, as well as serving as Ford Motor Company's Chief Marketing Officer for the past year, with responsibility for developing corporate marketing strategy in support of all of the company's brands. A successor in the Marketing position is not being announced at this time.

Formerly, Mr. Olsson was Chairman of the Board of Volvo Car Corp. Prior to that, he was Chief Executive Officer and President of Volvo Cars. He was born in Åmal, Sweden and received his MBA at the University of Gothenburg in 1966. In 1973, Mr. Olsson studied International Senior Management at Harvard University in Vevey, Switzerland.

Mr. Olsson began his career as a systems engineer responsible for production, control, logistics and procurement for Volvo Cars and Trucks in 1966. He went on to hold a series of Volvo management positions in markets all over the world, including the U.S., Japan and Europe.

"Hans-Olov's knowledge of the business and his record of success stand as a testament to his outstanding career," said Alan Mulally, president and CEO, Ford Motor Company. "We wish Hans-Olov and his family all the best as he moves to this new chapter in his life."

Ford Motor Company, a global automotive industry leader based in Dearborn, Mich., manufactures and distributes automobiles in 200 markets across six continents. With about 300,000 employees and more than 100 plants worldwide, the company’s core and affiliated automotive brands include Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo. Its automotive-related services include Ford Motor Credit Company. "

From the day Ford acquired Volvo, I was waiting for Ford to push out Volvo management and install its 'Bean Counter' guys. Ford has done such a great job of management and of course has joined the Marketing view that Advertising and Marketing can sell anything to the Public including junk. All one has to do is to design and build a product whose only regard is Profit. Marketing will take care of the rest. I have observed too many compnaies go down this road not to believe Volvo's days as a unique safety/long time design/reliability perspective company are gone. -Dick

[v70+xc70]

[QUOTE=budrichard;

I have observed too many compnaies go down this road not to believe Volvo's days as a unique safety/long time design/reliability perspective company are gone. -Dick[/QUOTE]


Heck if I was 64 and had lots of money like this guy, be tough to stop me from retiring.

Volvo no longer has Safety as a competitive advantage. Many have mimiced Volvo's safety designs, and some have even beaten Volvo at their own game. I don't understand the long time design comment but the constant flow of comments about major components eg ecm and transmissions failing well under 100k makes reliability a dubious factor. Its certainly not as good as Honda/Toyota for example

[philosophicaldreamer]

I guess I am more optimistic about the future of Volvo than you are. I have heard all the stories about the demise of Volvo when I got my first 1986 240 Volvo. Back than people were saying how unreliable volvos were, and they were going the Dodo bird's way. Anyway, I am betting that Volvo will be sold to Volkswagen or one of the French car companies, since Ford is running out of steam. As to the safety of volvos, I have full confidence in them. They saved my life twice and my wife's life once, and I would not have wanted to be in a Honda or Toyota when we had these accidents. Just because some car does well in respect of safety in a controlled-environment-crash testing does not mean that this car is really save in real life situations. I have to admit that I am biased. The only other car manufacturer that I would trust more than Volvo in regard to safety is Mercedes, but they have always had reputation for building safe cars.

Ta-ta, j.

[RB's]

Heck,

It's not Volvo I worry about, it's FORD!

[philosophicaldreamer]

Originally Posted by v70+xc70

Its certainly not as good as Honda/Toyota for example

Volvos have never been as reliable as Hondas or Toyotas; Volvos just out live them

Ta-ta, j.

[volvoshad]

Originally Posted by philosophicaldreamer

The only other car manufacturer that I would trust more than Volvo in regard to safety is Mercedes, but they have always had reputation for building safe cars.

Ta-ta, j.

Based on the information presented at crashtest.com, I am not sure that I agree that M-B is historically superior to Volvo in terms of safety. The newer models that have been tested do appear to be very safe. I will grant you that many manufacturers are catching up to Volvo in terms of safety features and controlled test results, but it will be a few years yet before we know for sure that these cars actually perform as well in the real world. I can't yet claim that a Volvo saved my life, but I don't think I will ever have anything else as a daily driver.

I agree with RB that Ford has the murkier future. Volvo's profitability has been very good over the past 7 years since the merger.

[MoeB]

Unless they're state-owned monopolies, all companies rely on marketing and ads to sell product in some way or other, even pre-Ford Volvo did. I currently own two Ford vehicles and have owned several others over the years. They've each had various issues but probably no more than Volvos. None of them were "junk" by any definition. My 1990 F150 5.0L sitting out in my driveway has 180,000 miles on it and still runs great.

Nothing lasts forever anyway.

[Boarder]

I am also not so sure this is the end for Volvo. Ford makes solid trucks, vans and SUV's. The shrinking market for these models on top higher labor costs, relative to Japanese competitors, puts them is a difficult position. I beat the hell out of a E250 van traveling Mexico and I was amazed the electronics as well as suspension took the many trips on wash board dirt roads. As for Ford cars, unless it is muscle they don't have much of a line. I agree that Volvo will likely go up for sale as some of the other Ford divisions have recently. If so, is the grass greener?