Volvo disappearing?

[eitankon]

Hello all,

In Israel , you can see less and less Volvo cars (Saab is almost gone completely ). Is this brand disappearing ?

New Volvo XC70 costs here about 100,000 $ !
New Volvo XC90 costs here about 120,000$ !
S40 - 45,000 $ !
Used 2002 XC70 about 15,000K

1. Are prices relatively that high all over the world (I know TAX in Israel is high)?
2. Do you feel the same that people do not buy Volvo anymore like they used to until the year 2005 ?
3. What do you think can be the cause ? (competition , other cars like Toyota , VW and more )..
4. Bad and non professional services.
5. High price for parts and replacement
6. Reliability ..

I am thinking about this many times. My friend has a garage for Honda and Volvo , and he says , the last 3 years , his work has dropped significantly , and he started to do general repair for other brands as well.

Kindly your thoughts.

Eitan

[howardc64]

Volvo has had pretty good sales increase the last couple of years (20% world wide in 2011). Not sure what is going on in Isreal. I would guess Volvo is probably focused on China with a local ownership (Geely) and China being the largest auto market in the world (surpassed US in 2009). Volvo sold nearly 50k cars in China in 2011. Here are 2011 sales news

http://www.swedishwire.com/business/12400-volvo-cars-reports-20-jump-in-2011-sales

Here are 2010 sales figure by market

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_Cars#Sales

I believe in 2011, Sweden is #1 (benefit from SAAB's demise?), US is #2 and barely ahead of China at #3. China will probably be the largest market for Volvo within a couple of years and have the largest growth potential (100-200k cars/year). I'm kind of amazed on how fast the Chinese market is growing for Volvo. Here is a link showing the local ownership hard at work to sell Volvo in China :)

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/03/20/jeremy-lin-hired-to-help-volvo-boost-car-sales-in-china-u-s/

So no declines... perhaps just a focus towards the biggest market with a local owner that brings local market expertise and accessibility.

On pricing, I'd imagine US has the lowest auto prices in the world. Our Volvo prices are probably 40% of your figures from Isreal.

One area Volvo probably has to work on soon is to start dropping some weight and introduce ASAP the 3-4 cylinder turbo engine that is in the works. Other Euro manufacturers are ahead of the game on both fronts. 2012 BMW 5 series has a turbo I4 with more power than the outgoing I6 and rated at 23/34 mpg. About the same mpg numbers as 2012 I4 Honda Accords and Toyota Camrys!

[eitankon]

Tnx Howard for the info.

So probably price is the main cause here.
Many good cars in the market today , and relatively better prices.

I also hear all the time , that Volvo cars has many problems, again with comparison to Toyota , Mazda etc.

Let's hope Geely and the increase of sales , will bring Volvo to the people with reasonable prices.

Eitan

[MacNoob]

A new midrange XC70 here in Canada is $54k. You can't walk across the street without dodging a Volvo in my town. Lots of 850s still on the road too. The older ones are starting to look a little tattered with some rust starting etc. But I'm pleased with how well they are holding up. Hopefully my XC will look as good when it is 15 years old.

[coflynn]

I've noticed loads more Volvo's around now compared to five years ago here. It used to be difficult to get an oil change anywhere as nobody had filters it seemed, now even places like Costco stock them! I see a fair amount of new ones too, so it's not just people holding/buying old ones...

[eitankon]

Forums like this , are sure to help people being more confident on buying Volvo.

For me Volvo is the ultimate car.

Eitan