Volvo Archives - Swadeology

Volvo Pushing For Internet Car Sales

Decision 1 for Volvo last week was to end the company’s factory-backed participation in motorsport.

Decision 2 is a substantial shift in Volvo’s marketing mix that’s going to be very interesting to watch. Volvo is implementing a new plan called the “Volvo Way To Market” and it means big changes in the way they’ll do things.

The Volvo Way To Market can be summarised as follows:

Marketing tools

And increased spend on better defined and more focused branding.
Only three motor shows a year – Detroit, Geneva and Shanghai/Beijing. Volvo will also conduct their own major event in Sweden to court the press and push their new products and brand values. This will replace attendance at ‘minor’ auto shows in other cities.
A decrease in sponsorship activities, such as motor racing and other sporting activities. The only major sponsorship to remain (and get an increase) is Volvo Ocean Racing.

I really like the idea of limited motor show activity. It’s a massive spend and while they’re great fun if you’re involved, the jury is out on how many cars they help to sell. Most car companies now see motor shows as a chance to 1) engage the press and 2) peek down the trousers of their rival carmakers. These three are the shows that everyone attends.

Digital Leadership

This will be an interesting part for me. Volvo argues that people are doing their car shopping online and since the company is seeing the profits of doing business on the Web, it seems interested in opting for online cross channel marketing solutions to attract more customers who would like to buy their automobiles online. However, this is not just it! Volvo also seems to be making a huge investment in improving their old customers’ online experience–some of the ways that they are going to do that are written below.

Volvo will create an industry-leading website that promotes the brand’s values.
Volvo will create a new type of vehicle configurator, one that starts with a fully loaded car and allows the customer to customise it from there. Customers then have a video link emailed to them so they can see the car in motion.
Finally, Volvo will move to selling cars online, to compliment the dealership experience

The first two of those sound rather ho-hum. Every brand wants an industry leading website that promotes their brand values. Every brand wants a vehicle configurator that customers find easy and interesting to use. Right now there are only generic statements of intent. The whole notion turns on how Volvo will achieve this.

The final point is the really interesting one. Establishing online vehicle sales in parallel with the dealership sales experience. I firmly believe that there will be a reasonable selection of customers who will like the idea of ordering online. They’ll still want a dealership around to see the vehicle, maybe even for a test drive, but the idea of avoiding all the sales games and ordering at your leisure will resonate with some.

In order to cater to the surge in demand for cars through online orders, bringing out the best practices facility management would be necessary. The increase in demand would need a higher manufacturing volume of cars which could be achieved through automation practices in manufacturing units– to boost worker productivity as well as the speed of manufacturing.

This calls for some serious research on Volvo’s part in knowing how to pivot their offline customers to online sales-marketing techniques will most likely come into play, and a deeper understanding of demand generation vs lead generation is necessary to get the ball rolling in Volvo’s favor.

Which leads us to….

Dealerships

Dealers might fear Volvo’s proposed online push, but Volvo will argue that dealerships don’t make much money off the initial sale anyway. Their money comes from parts and services, and dealerships will still be needed for those activities. Additionally, car dealers may need to implement effective techniques in order to increase sales. One way to reach more audiences is by consulting with a company that provides SEO for the automotive industry, which enables dealers to rank higher in search engines. Another option is to use search engine marketing to generate more traffic by running advertising campaigns. It is likely that car sales will increase through such effective marketing strategies.

Volvo want dealers to become full-on brand centres. New dealerships will have a standard Volvo-designed presentation that emphasises the Scandinavian heritage of the company. Existing dealerships will be asked to refine certain details to do the same.
Example – Dealers will be asked to serve traditional Swedish fare, and drinks in Swedish glass. So instead of looking up a recipe for Swedish meatballs and going to a dealership to buy a car, you’ll now go to your dealership for Swedish food and then go online to order your car.
European dealership staff will be dressed by a funky Swedish designer. American dealership staff will be dressed by Will Ferrell. OK, I made the Will Ferrell bit up, but the first bit’s true.

Service

After hooking customers in with its tasteful yet all-pervading internet presence, Volvo aims to cosset them with a very personal service experience.

New vehicle customers will meet their personal service technician when they pick up their new Volvo and that technician will stay with them for their full period of vehicle ownership. Phone numbers will be exchanged, presumably along with Christmas cards and other niceties.

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Volvo seem to be going to great lengths to let everyone know that this is not a reduction in dealership-based sales activity. In fact, Volvo are going to increase their marketing spend by a reasonable sum in order to implement the Volvo Way To Market.

What will be interesting is to see exactly how it unfolds, and how it affects Volvo sales. Volvo will need to do some serious investment in online marketing to reach the right people. And when that’s done, their new website and configurator will have to be something special to get people to commit online.

Other companies will be watching, too. You can bet your bottom dollar that the Teutonic crowd will be very interested in how this goes for Volvo. It won’t take long for other companies to replicate this venture if Volvo proves it can be successful. As with safety, this is something that can be learned and then snuffed out as a differentiator in reasonably quick time.

I take my hat off to Volvo for having a crack at this (but please keep racing).

Volvo To Stop Factory Support For Racing

Volvo made some ripples last week with a couple of announcements likely to have various parties feeling just a little bit nervous.

Decision 1 will effect anyone involved with a factory-backed Volvo racing team – unless they’re in a boat. Volvo’s global Marketing Manager, Alain Nisser, was quoted in the press last week saying that the company will cease direct participation in racing. Volvo’s sponsorship of ocean racing will continue, but car racing is on the chopping block.

Volvo support efforts by their performance partner, Polestar, in several racing series around the world, including the Swedish Touring Car Championship and the Australian V8 Supercar Championship. Polestar has won the last two STCC titles and won four races in the Australian series, in just the team’s second year.

Polestar will have to make decisions about their continued participation in some series’ if they’re going to have to fund their own efforts fully through competition and sponsorship in the future.

From an Australian perspective, this would be a major disappointment. Volvo and Polestar’s inclusion in the V8 Supercar series via the Garry Rogers Motorsport organisation (GRM) has created plenty of interest. Mercedes and Nissan joined the series – dominated by just Holden and Ford for two decades – but neither have had the success of Volvo. GRM Volvos took pole position in 10 out of 38 races this year, winning four of them.

Volvo’s contract with V8 Supercars runs until the end of 2016. The STCC contract finishes a year earlier.

The big question is WHY?

There are two reasons – the one that sounds a little bit warm and fuzzy, and the real reason.

Warm and fuzzy, by Alain Visser:

“Motorsport does not conform with our brand, where we stand for smaller engines and safety,”

The real reason, by Hakan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars Group:

In the end, we do it if we think we can make money from selling more cars.

Follow the money, as they say in the classics. It costs money to race and unless you’re making it back somewhere, the cost is going to come under scrutiny. In Australia, Volvo has been racing for two years with some considerable success, yet their sales in 2014 are down 7% year-to-date. Sales were down a whopping 37% in November.

Samuelsson did actually echo the warm and fuzzy quote a little, when he went on to say:

Long-term it’s not really the cars we will be producing so it’s on the negative list, but let’s now continue the contract we have. Long-term it would be more interesting [to] maybe look into a hybrid formula. That’s open for discussion but there’s nothing I’ve heard about.

The good news is that the V8 Supercars group will be altering the rules for 2017 – the year after Volvo is due to quit racing in Australia – and the new rules will allow for classes other than V8s. Maybe there’ll be something there that will suit Volvo’s future vehicle plans a little better.

Volvo and Polestar have won a lot of friends down here in Australia, even if those friends haven’t bought cars yet. Racing is an investment and all good investments take time.

Here’s hoping Volvo might choose to stay around.

I’ll get to Decision 2, which concerns Volvo’s marketing plans and dealers, tomorrow. For now, here’s 8 minutes of the most exciting racing from the V8 Supercar Series this year. Take the time to watch it.

Videos: New Volvo XC90

I was born in Melbourne, so I’m genetically programmed to hate everything about Sydney*. I live in Hobart, so I think Launceston’s a hole**. Geographic rivalry is about as old as mankind itself. It started when the first cavemen argued over who had the best hunting ground and it hasn’t stopped since.

As a Saab guy, I have a natural disposition to dismiss Volvo. Where Saabs were sporty and svelte, Volvos were boxy and brutal. The old joke is that they were built to protect Volvo drivers from other Volvo drivers. Secretly, though, I quite like them. I suspect a lot of other Saab fans feel the same way.

What drew me to Saab was Swedish design and engineering and Volvos share the same qualities. The design side hasn’t always been so attractive. I can remember an Aussie racing driver in the 1980’s describing the task of overtaking a Volvo being similar to trying to pass an mobile apartment building.

A lot’s changed, though. I’m wondering whether it’s time to openly declare some affection for the other Swede.

The new Volvo XC90 might just be a case in point. All we’ve got to go on is the interior right now, but that interior looks mighty Swedish – and mighty good.

Have a look at this:

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Volvo has also done a concept teaser for the whole XC90 model. It reminds me of the Swedish fascination films Saab used to make, though the song isn’t as catchy as any of the songs that Saab used. The film isn’t quite as nice, either.

Then again, at least Volvo’s still here to make films 🙂

And despite the Chinese ownership, they’re still acting like they’re very Swedish indeed, which is great to see and crucial to their identity.

* I actually quite like Sydney now.

** Launceston’s still a hole 🙂

Volvo Estate Concept – Sexy As…..

Volvo, whatever real-world model it is that you create from this Estate Concept, it had better be good. Really good.

Because this concept car, to be shown at the Geneva Motor Show in the next few weeks, is absolutely fantastic.

OK, it’s only got three doors (including the rear hatch) so it won’t be as practical as Volvos past. And OK, the rear hatch opening is far too small to be as practical as Volvos past.

But you can kinda forgive all that when the rest of the package looks this good – inside and out.

We’ll have to wait and read all the details about possible engines, etc. I hope they’ve got some real-world plans for this because the days of concepts-for-the-sake-of-concepts are both tiresome and running out. People expect to see something conceptual turn into something real. I hope Volvo can do it with this car (and retain a two-door option).

I’ve mentioned the two not-so-Volvo bits. Here are the bits I like:

BROWN!!
The contrasting seat surfaces. Please do one in a tasteful tartan.
The sensible use and placement of a large screen (unlike Tesla’s distasteful use).
Racy coloured seatbelts.
It’s a three-door wagon, a-la Saab’s 95 from decades ago.
The ‘ES’ badging, reminiscent of the P1800 with the same badge.
Beautiful centre console wood treatment and sculpting

Clickety click.

Volvo Estate Concept

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Swade’s 7 ‘Investment’ Cars For Less Than $30,000

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I recently featured 7 classic car investments for rich people here on site with the promise that Gavin and I could come up with lists of our own.

The terms and conditions:

The budget is for a maximum of A$30,000
You must be able to show an example of the car for sale somewhere in the world under that price (at a current rate of exchange).
The car has to be interesting.
The writer should be able to provide some short theory as to why it’s a possible long-term proposition for making a little money (or, at the very least, not losing you (much) money if you look after it properly).

Gavin’s already published his list. Now it’s my turn.

Here we go. Investment cars, a-la Swado.

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Porsche 911

Predictable, I know. But there’s a reason for that.

Want evidence that a classic 1980’s 911 is holding it’s price? I can’t find one under $30K to show you that’s a) Australian delivered, and b) unmodified. Those are the two basic criteria for buying a 911 here in Oz and a year ago, I would have had a bunch to show you. Now, not so much.

The 911 is always in demand but as with all older cars, the good ones are getting harder to find as time passes and climbing in price as a result. Get a good one and you’ll do well. Get a dud and the bills will be like an anchor around your neck.

This UK-spec 911SC Coupe was imported into Australia and looks neat for $28K, but you’d want to check underneath for rust. Imports will always be worth a little less than Australian delivered models, but you shouldn’t lose anything if the car’s in good shape.

For the best chance at appreciation, buy one delivered in your local market, especially if you live in a relatively dry climate. There’ll be less hassle with specifications meeting local standards, no poor steering conversions to worry about and if you’re in a country like Australia, very little concern about rust.

For you US types, a 1971 911T recently showed up on Craigslist for $25K. I didn’t see what price it ended up selling for, but after it was featured on Bring A Trailer the owner received more than 400 enquiries. I have a feeling the price went up after that. But it just goes to show that they DO become available at good prices sometimes.

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Lancia Fulvia

How could I not have a Fulvia on this list? It’s not just here because I like it, though. This is a real value-holder and in the right spec (and at the right price), a genuine investment.

The Fulvia is an acquired taste but in the 12 months or so that I’ve been interested in them, I’ve noted that there’s a definite audience interested in this beautifully engineered Italian. They generally sell for less than $30K. You’re more likely to pay in the region of $15K for a good basic car and $20K-upwards for one in really good condition.

I can’t find a current ad to show from Australia, but the 1600HF Lusso I shared here last month proves that if you’re patient enough, even a 1600 HF Lusso (series 2) can become available for under $30K.

The early 1600 HF’s are the real collector cars but the value pick is probably the 1300 Rallye S from the first series, which have the alloy hood, doors and boot lid. They’re good buying, great driving, they look absolutely beautiful and definitely hold their value.

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Mercedes Benz 380SL

Mercedes SL’s can be hot property, but most of the real investment-grade cars are already well over our $30K ceiling. A good R107 should provide some wonderful motoring without hurting your hip pocket, however, and they can be found in outstanding condition at this money.

I’ve picked a 380SL for my sample because if I was to buy a car like this, I’d want the V8. One of the real money spinners is the 280SL from around 10 years earlier. The gullwing’s in another class all together, of course.

Consider this beauty, for sale in Canberra for $25,000 right now. It looks magnificent in red with a cream leather interior and woodgrain. It’s old enough to look absolutely classic but young enough to have electric everything and ABS, too. Soft-top and hard-top, naturally.

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Maserati Ghibli GT

Here’s one for sale for $32K (the lowest priced Ghibli GT available in Oz), which is a little over budget but a skilled negotiator could pick it up in the high-20’s, I’m sure. You’d want to change the wheels to something a little more age-appropriate, but other than the wheels it’s a pretty nice looking piece of machinery.

This is a risky pick because Maseratis of this era tend to make your average punter run a mile in the other direction. Prices can go low for the BiTurbo but they’re pretty stable for the Ghibli, and the 100th birthday of Maserati, along with current desirability associated with the brand, means they could be poised for some reassessment by the motoring fraternity.

The second iteration of the Ghibli, built from the early 90’s to the late 90’s suffered from being related to the un-revered BiTurbo of the previous decade. Like many cars of similar tainted origin, however, the Ghibli is the type of car that addressed the problems of its forebear and can actually represent really good performance value thanks to it’s poor lineage acting like a boat anchor on its price. They’re reputed to be very reliable, but scheduled maintenance has to be done and the costs can be high.

Now, that’s not necessarily a recipe for value appreciation, but given the exotic nature of the Maserati name, the brand’s recent success and the generous performance and luxury levels of the Ghibli, it might just be one to be recognised. One of the problems, however, is that you’re looking at a very niche vehicle. In order to sell you have to have a buyer and there aren’t a lot of those for 90’s Maseratis.

Call it a very speculative pick.

The Ghibli GT had a 2.8 V6 with a twin-turbo setup that produced around 284hp. It moves. And I could live with a sound like this, too 🙂

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BMW M635CSi

The Shark’s already a popular BMW classic and can be had for around $20K in pretty good condition. The smart money’s on the M model, however, with its extra grunt and M badge appeal that helps to hold the car’s value.

The M635CSi has the hi-po version of BMW’s creamy straight-six making just over 280hp. That’s nice rather than nefarious by today’s standards, but it was extremely competitive in the early-mid 1980’s and a big step up from the 215hp offered in the non-M version.

The styling is superb and the interior is well equipped and comfortable.

The 6-series is already a favourite amongst classic BMW fans. To have a genuine M version of the car only makes it more popular and that means demand = price retention or even appreciation over time.

The car shown here is for sale in Australia but is of UK origin so you’d want to make sure it’s cancer-free. At $29,900 the price is right if the car checks out. Other M6’s are selling for up to $10K more.

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Alfa 105 Coupe 1750

As with the 911 and Fulvia, I’ve been watching Alfa 105 Coupe sales for some times now. And as with the 911 (less so with the Fulvia as they’re not so readily available) the prices for a decent one seem to be going up. Especially for the sweet-spot 1750 engine models.

It wasn’t so long ago that I could show you a number of 105’s around the $10-$15K mark and they would have all been decent, turn-key classics that you could happily take to your Alfa club meeting or on a nice Sunday drive. 1750’s are in shorter supply, however, and the good ones are all starting around $20K now and go up from there.

This one’s for sale right now for $21,000 and the only 1750 selling for less is a $6500 project that you wouldn’t touch unless you had a bunch of time and money to pour into it.

The market says they’re going up right now, but I’d be a little nervous as those $15K cars might hit the sales pages again once their new owners have had their fun. But a properly sorted 1750 (if that’s what this is – buyer beware) is at that point where the good ones are rare enough to be very desirable and unlike the Ghibli, above, you’re selling into a much bigger potential ownership base.

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Volvo P1800 S

I’m not sure that a Volvo will ever be considered as a real investment, but if there was ever a Volvo that might, it’d be the P1800.

It’s the most beautiful Volvo ever made, with timeless exterior styling and a beautiful interior to match, especially the early interiors like the one on this 1966 car, for sale right now in Queensland for $26,000.

Some people like the shooting-brake ES model but I much prefer the coupe styling of the S. The P1800 is no race car with it’s 4-cyl 1780cc engine but it’ll get down the road nicely and if you want to know about reliability, just ask Irv Gordon, who’s passed the 3-million mile mark in his P1800 S since that video was made.

As I said, it’s not likely to go up, but if it’s looked after properly, a good P1800 S is very unlikely to go down.

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So there they are: my 7 classic investment cars for under $30,000 – cars that I reckon have some potential to make you a little bit of money (or at least prevent you losing much money). Do your homework, though, as this isn’t investment advice. It’s just my opinion.

If you source them wisely and look after them properly then I think you’ll pay very little in rent over your ownership period and have a very enjoyable time driving them, too.

Over to you….

Monday Reading – Classic Mercs, Fiat, Goodwood, Saab + Volvo Sales and Maserati

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Here’s the very best of automotive reading from around the web over the weekend.

Well, what I think was the best reading. Let’s see what you think.

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Congratulations to Volvo on increasing its sales in 2013.

Volvo sold 427,840 vehicles in 2013, a small increase over 2012. The boost came thanks to large rise in Chinese sales and a small rise in Swedish sales. The US market, still #1 for Volvo, dropped by 10% so if they can arrest that slide in the near future, things will indeed look brighter for the other Swede.

Don’t mind the picture to the right. It’s an in-joke.

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We’ve been talking classics a fair bit lately and Hemmings have rightly touted an upcoming auction as the ultimate classic car showdown. This one’s going to have a huge influence, I think.

Take two very, very desirable classics – Mercedes Benz 300SL Gullwings. Give them both a black exterior and a red interior.

The difference?

One of them is completely original and in a condition that many would say needs restoration after years of storage. The other is completely restored – it was black out of the factory and it’s black now, but the interior has been changed from red with green tartan cloth, to red leather.

Which will attract the highest bid?

My money’s on the restoration, but I’d love the original to come out on top.

Click through to Hemmings for the full details.

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I’m going to write my last Saab article in a while over the course of the next week or so. This comments thread at Saabs United has convinced me that there’s nothing to write about with regards to Saab at the moment and won’t be for some time.

It’s slightly amusing and very, very sad – all at the same time.

I’ll write something and post when ready. It’s not in any way a rebuttal of the article, which I think is quite good and fair. It’s just my own thoughts on Saab’s current situation in light of their 31 vehicle sales in December, and why that situation doesn’t need any more comment from me for a while. I think a few others might find themselves in the same boat.

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I like the Fiat X1/9.

There. I said it.

I really like the Fiat X1/9 when it’s photographed as well as that one.

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A Lancia Fulvia with a chopped top?

No thanks.

And yet, this one’s expected to fetch more than £200,000 at auction in the near future.

Must be something to do with its race history and being eligible for nearly every historic event in Europe.

Still, no.

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Maserati is 100 years old this year?

I think we should celebrate.

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Here’s another collection of photos from Goodwood 2013.

Not as good the set from Any Given Reason, but still worth a look.

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And while we’re talking Any Given Reason, can you imagine stumbling upon a garage where Michael Schumacher’s personally specified Ferrari F40 is considered merely an entree?

Imagine you’re a tourist and you stumbled on this – because that’s what happened to AGR’s Andrew Coles. What he saw was completely unexpected and will blow your mind.

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Finally, a bird of paradise photographed by yours truly at the Royal Hobart Botanical Gardens on the weekend.

Bloomin Beauty!

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Thursday Snippets – Frankfurt and non

The Frankfurt Motor Show is on again. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes because the Frankfurt Motor Show is like a small city unto itself. I’m quite sure it’s bigger than the central business district here in Hobart.

When I visited Frankfurt, in 2009, there were nine display halls. Each hall was massive. Some contain multiple brands but some were ‘owned’ by single carmaking groups. Mercedes Benz had their own hall. Volkswagen group had their own hall, except it didn’t include Audi, which had another pavilion all to itself. BMW had its own hall.

Jalopnik has a good article that provides some perspective as to the sheer size of these halls and you can imagine for yourself the amount of money that manufacturers spend on them. Rumour had it that Mercedes spent in the order of 30million EUR and that was back in 2009. Who knows how much Audi spent building an inverted city inside theirs, complete with mirrored ceiling.

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To the cars from Frankfurt, then…..

Autoblog do a good listing of the stuff they cover. I have to say that in looking through it, I haven’t been particularly inspired. Maybe I’m going off new cars all together.

Things that interested me (sort of, for both good and bad reasons), include the following:

Has there ever been a more dull looking 300hp hot hatch? The VW Golf R.

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Anything to do with the Mercedes AMG CLA45 is interesting. This is a racing version.

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I think I’ll mark this down as THE most interesting car at Frankfurt (for me). The new BMW i8. This is no longer a concept, which is what makes it so fascinating. This is a real-deal production car capable of a sub 4.5 second sprint with 94mpg economy in day-to-day driving.

I don’t know why but I find this much more interesting than a Tesla.

Here’s one in something other than car-show-white

And check out the launch video, with the car in black:

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1963 must have been a good year.

It’s the Porsche 911’s 50th birthday. It’s the Lancia Fulvia’s 50th birthday. It’s also the Abarth 595’s 50th birthday, so Fiat are celebrating at Frankfurt with an Anniversary edition of their popular retro-baby.

This Anniversary edition gets more grunt, special transmission, custom wheels, bigger brakes, an enhanced soundtrack and improved trim.

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I’m still trying to get my head around this Volvo Coupe concept. It seems so wrong but somehow also feels quite right.

Volvo – stop messing with my head!!!

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There is no conflict with the Porsche 918 Spyder. This is pure beauty mixed with absolute, uncompromising technical brutality.

And yes, I’ll also post the video of it setting a new production car lap record of The Ring.

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I’ve seen a lot of people get excited about this Jaguar crossover thing. It’s called the Jaguar C-X17 and I’m not excited.

Another big luxury SUV. I’m sure it will ride beautifully and cosset its occupants in the utmost comfort. But does the world need another luxury carmaker tapping the crossover market? Really?

Big deal.

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Non-Frankfurt……

Lambo beauty

We did a number of polls earlier about the most iconic cars from various countries. The one significant car country we didn’t cover was Italy. The reason: too intimidating. There are simply too many beautiful Italian cars to cope with. It’d blow up my poll software. My mind would melt. You just can’t assemble that much automotive beauty in one place without a permit and a hazmat suit.

The Lamborghini Miura is a case in point. This video takes a little while to get going and doesn’t reach the heights that it could, but it’s still pretty darn good. It tells the story of a guy who had one 40 years ago as a rich young Playboy, and the guy who became one of Lamborghini’s greatest test drivers.

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Ferrari Insanity

This video has done the rounds of the web all week. If you haven’t seen it yet, set aside 20 minutes and watch it now.

This is Chris Harris from /Drive wringing the necks of both the Ferrari F40 and F50. Both the video and the cars are amazing in every way.

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Nuts

A wonderful article from Hemmings observing first-hand the madness of the typical classic car owner.

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Volvo P1800

“What’s it like to own a $10,000 car? Find out for $3,995.”

Fantastic brochure and advertising images for the Volvo P1800.

Short. Worth a read.

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Midweek Snippets – Jalopnik FM, Tesla Safety, Petroliciously Pebble and Politics

Here are some of my best reads from the last few days of online automotive reading (and something from the fringe).

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Jalopnik good

I don’t know if you’d call this list definitive, but it’s entertaining. Jalopnik compiled a list of the Ten Best Automotive Ads and there are a couple of Swedes amongst them – one each from Volvo and Saab. I’m not sure they picked the right Volvo ad (I prefer the one with the Lamborghini) but the Saab one was a favourite.

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Not a real ad

Spotted, photographed and caption-added by my mate Turbin a few days ago.

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Jalopnik Bad

Jalopnik’s still on my RSS feed because once or twice a week you still get a story that’s worth reading (see the ads story, above). That’s maybe two read-worthy stories out of the 300-or-so they publish every week. Jalopnik’s entry rate is frenetic nowadays, which would be great if they had useful content. But Jalopnik’s style has regressed in the last 18 months and they’re publishing a heck of a lot of trash now.

I think it was around 1995 that it dawned on me how much I hate commercial FM radio. All those slick, contrived phrases delivered by silky, confected voices. It was evident even back then that they were in a race to the bottom in terms of delivering radio content that appealed to the lowest common denominator; something that’s only got worse with the passage of time and the emergence of the 24-hour media cycle. But the worst bit was the delivery method – slick, contrived humour that sounded slimy and eventually, got annoying.

Jalopnik is the automotive equivalent of commercial FM radio.

This was the most recent noteworthy example, from a post leading up to Pebble Beach:

There will be crashes and auctions. Weird fashion. Weird people. Unicorn cars. And some guy dressed head-to-toe in Ferrari attire even though he just owns a 308. We will love that guy.

“Even though he just owns a 308”

There are brands that I don’t have an interest in ever owning, but I’ve got plenty of respect for those that do. Yes, a guy willing to have his wallet hoovered and dress head-to-toe in Rosso will be eye-catching and maybe even snigger-worthy, but base that on his fashion sense, not because you think he drives a ‘lesser Ferrari’.

Any Ferrari, the 308 included (the 308 especially, if you ask me), is worthy of a car guy’s respect. For most that eventually do it, owning a Ferrari – any Ferrari – is a long-held dream. I don’t know about the situation in the USA (Jalopnik’s home ground) but here in Australia, the commitment one makes when buying even the most affordable Ferrari – which right now is the Mondial – is a massive one.

First, you have to save money like a madman and fork out more than many brand-new midsize cars just to reach that most accessible level of Ferrari ownership. The sheer fact that a 308 or a Mondial can be bought by the committed at a remotely ‘accessible’ price is something to be enjoyed while the situation exists. It’s not something to be sniggered at.

Then you’ve got to maintain it, which is not a simple or cheap affair.

What really irks me is those who sit on the sidelines with their wannabe cheersquads and take the piss out of those who commit their hobby time and hobby resources to really achieving what is for them, a dream. Sure, they’re not conquering cancer or teaching under-privileged kids how to read or anything – how many car guys or girls do? – but they’re pursuing for them what is quite likely the appreciation of a level of creativity, passion and craftsmanship that’s becoming less accessible as time goes on. Cars like these are, for many, a mechanical expression of human automotive passion.

To those who commit to caring for one of these cars, I doff my hat.

And yes, this is a little bit personal. Aside from the fashion sense, I am that guy (I’ll admit I’ve barely got any fashion sense, but enough to avoid ever spending much at a Ferrari store). I’d love to have a Ferrari one day, whether it be a Mondial or a 308/328. And incidentally, the only example of a 308 I’ve ever ridden in was owned and driven by former Saab USA chief Bob Sinclair. He’s a bloke I’d be happy to emulate.

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Now that I’ve got that off my chest……

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Pebble Beach

Petrolicious has put together a brief but memorable pictorial from Pebble Beach.

They didn’t go onto the manicured lawns and photograph the cars all perfectly parked. They waited outside and photographed the cars doing what they were made to do – they got the cars driving.

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Tesla goes 5-star+

I’ve thrown a few bricks at Tesla in the last 18 months or so – pun intended – but credit where credit’s due.

The Tesla Model S just got 5-stars in it’s crash test and if the scale went higher than five stars, there’s a good chance they might have reached higher, too. It’s being touted as quite possibly the best crash-test result ever achieved under the NHTSA regime in the United States.

A Tesla Model S isn’t for everyone, but for those who get one, it’s good to know they’re about as safe as a car can be right now.

Congratulations to Tesla.

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Political Spin

And finally, for those who have made it this far……

We’re in election mode in Australia right now. Politicians are everywhere and we’re all sick to death of them. This, however, is a pleasure. And with 214,000 views on Youtube in 24 hours, you’d call it a success, too.

A cameraman for our national broadcaster also happens to be the bass player in a band. He used his Canberra-based job and connections to talk a bunch of our federal politicians in to appearing in his band’s film clip. The song is about the 24-hour nature of the political news cycle that he works in, so the pollies’ appearances were probably as cathartic as they were relevant.

The clip features the current Prime Minister (behind the newspaper) as well as the current opposition leader who’s after his job (spinning the bike wheel). There’s a bunch of other prominent Australian politicians and press reporters, too, one of whom is ironing his underpants.

Can’t imagine Obama, Cameron or Putin doing a clip like this. Well, maybe Putin.

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Volvo V40 plays familiar, catchy tune

The latest in my series of “Alt-Saab” entries belongs to the new Volvo V40.

The car is launching in Australia right now and pricing starts from a pretty competitive (and sub-Saab 9-3) price of ,990 plus ORC.

For that, you get a reasonably breathless 84kW (113hp) four-cylinder turbo BUT…. it’s a diesel, so it’s got great mileage and importantly, 270Nm of pulling power to make driving it a lot more pleasurable than the power rating would suggest. There’s also a five-cylinder diesel for $5K more, as well as two petrol engines: a 132kW 2.0 turbo four and the range-topping 2.5 litre five-cylinder R-Design, with 187kW (250hp) for ,000.

Those engines sit under the hood of a car with nice styling, decent equipment levels and as always, great ergonomics and safety. And speaking of the V40 hood, it’s the first in the world to be equipped with a pedestrian airbag!

Cue Dudley Moore: Volvo – built to protect Volvo drivers from other Volvo drivers 🙂

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The V40 appears to be a bit smaller than most Saab fans would like. It’s got the all-important rear hatch/door but you’ll need the folding rear seats for bigger items as there doesn’t look to be too much room behind them.

The equipment list is long and only gets longer the more you go up the model tree. Both generic and Volvo-centric terminology abounds depending on which one you choose:

Stop-start technology and regenerative braking.
Electrical Power Assist Steering (links with other safety aids)
Lane Keeping Aid
Park Assist Pilot
Upgraded stability and traction control
Blind Spot Information System (new, using radar)
Pedestrian Detection System
Pedestrian Airbag
Driver Alert System (incl Lane Keeping Aid, Road Side Information and Active High Beam)
Active Bending Lights

…..and all of that’s leaving out the interior trimmings and gadgets like ambient lighting, eight-speaker stereo, standard 5-inch TFT screen (upgrade to 7-inch available), LED DRL’s, parking sensors and automatic wipers.

Go further up the tree for leather, electric seats, reversing camera, etc.

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The V40 has smart styling, a well designed interior, good engine options (esp in diesel markets) and I’ll look forward to actual road tests here in Australia to read how it drives. If it’s anything like recent Volvos I’ve driven then it’ll be stable and well sorted, if not thoroughly engaging.

Given that, the question remains for current/former Saab owners – would it make your list?

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Volvo throw down a performance gauntlet – in Australia

Whilst we’re waiting…..

I don’t know how much noise it’s made overseas, but here in Australia, the motoring wires have been buzzing this week due to the arrival of a limited edition Volvo S60 tuned by Volvo’s racing partners, Polestar. This package has been put together specifically for the Australian market and Volvo Cars Australia will only sell 50 of them, each of the cars individually numbered.

A quick description, from the Fairfax press here in Australia:

Under the bonnet is the same 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbocharged engine in the T6 model, albeit tweaked to deliver an extra 18kW of power (242kW or 325hp) and a torque boost of 40Nm (to 480Nm) thanks to software upgrades.

It even matches its donor car’s official fuel use and emissions figures of 10.2 litres per 100 kilometres and 243g/km CO2. We managed 11.3L/100km during our time behind the wheel, including spirited driving through tight, twisting roads around Wollemi National Park in New South Wales.

Despite the performance gains, the official numbers again fail to live up to the car’s real-world abilities. At 5.8 seconds, it might only manage a 0-100km/h time of just 0.3 seconds less than the regular S60 T6, but it’s the Polestar’s impressive rolling acceleration that is likely to have buyers hand over the extra cash.

Unlike the US version, the Australian S60 Polestar is the only one of its kind in the world to receive stiffer springs for even sharper handling over the sporty T6 R Design. The Stateside version doesn’t get the sports exhaust system, bigger wheels or lower ride height either.

It sounds to me like the other Swede might be using us far away Aussies as guinea pigs for a wider rollout. Fair enough.

So why am I writing about an admittedly impressive-sounding Volvo here at Inside Saab?

There was a time, not so long ago, when Saab were the undisputed sporting choice for the Swedish car buyer. This goes right back to the earliest days of Saab, with their lightweight, tossable chassis and high-revving stroker engines. It continued through the days of the 99Turbo, the 900T 16V and even the 9000 Aero and 9-3 Viggen. By those later stages, however, Volvo were beginning to shed their block-of-flats design language and were starting to include some performance versions of their own. I still observe some of those early ‘R’ wagons with a degree of admiration.

Saab’s most recent quasi-performance edition was the 2008 Saab 9-3 Turbo X, a car that received a sitting ovation, mostly due to tamer-than-expected performance attributes. People expected the Turbo X’s output to be significantly raised over the standard 9-3 Aero V6 due to the addition of the XWD system. The truth of the matter turned out to be that the Turbo X was much more about XWD than it was about flat-out performance.

I have a feeling that the enthusiast set – me included – will come to appreciate the Turbo X much more as time passes, because it IS a great performing car on the road, even if the numbers on paper aren’t significantly different to other models. I know whenever I see one that I stop and stare, and my guess is that others do, too.

But back to the point…..

The S60 Polestar is a factory built collaboration between Volvo and Polestar, offered by Volvo Australia with the full Volvo three-year, unlimited kilometer warranty. It’s selling here in Australia for just over A$80,000 (previous S60R models from nearly 10 years ago sold for $20K more than that). All things considered, that’s a decent package.

I’d like to send a challenge out to Saab’s engineers and marketers – let’s not let Volvo have this ground to themselves.

Saab has the perfect performance partner, Hirsch Performance, from Switzerland.

Anyone who’s driven a car enhanced with Hirsch Performance gear knows that it’s a wonderfully integrated package that looks fantastic and drives even better than it looks. I first drove a Hirsch Saab 9-5 around 5 years ago and it was wonderfully, deliciously brutal when you wanted it to be, while still retaining all of the smooth qualities of the 9-5.

Saab has had a lot to contend with in the last two years – the carve-out from General Motors, the launch of the Saab 9-5 and 9-4x, and of course there are the severe troubles that the company has faced during 2011 and the immediate threat we face to our continued existence. We need to focus on getting past these obstacles and getting back on our feet.

I can’t help but think, however, that a project like the integration of Hirsch Performance into our factory offerings would instil a bit more pride, a bit more fight, into the Saab brand once we’re back on our feet. I know there are people in the upper echelon at Saab who are interested in these thoughts, too. As mentioned, though, we’ve just had too much on our plate in recent times to take it further.

We simply can’t let the ball-bearing manufacturers from Gothenburg have the fun side of Swedish motoring all to themselves. Can we?

The good news is that Saab did start working on greater use of Hirsch products with the 9-3 Independence Edition Convertible. I know there have been problems with those being built due to our current circumstances, but it’s still a step in the right direction for greater Saab-Hirsch integration.

The Saab 9-3 Griffin, using the new direct-injected 2.0T engine would be the perfect canvas for Saab and Hirsch to collaborate and produce a feisty product that could get some tongues wagging and a price point comparable to that S60 Polestar.

Just a little food for thought……