dbarton
Dejected by Volvo Corp.
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2002
- Location
- Prosper, TX
It's my understanding that Volvo didn't want a works car. Volvo corporate's emphasis was on safety, not performance. Racing, they thought, would undermine this.
A bit off topic, but this subject has been a thorn in my side for many years. I'm a performance oriented person, so I do have a bias, but I think the FIRST rule in car making is to sell cars, period. Not to make a stand on "safety" at the expense of performance. I think Volvo has destroyed themselves over the years by doing this.
I recall when Volvo announced in 1981 they had built (or maybe imported to the US) one million 240s. At the time BMW, Mercedes, Audi and others were far behind on import numbers. Volvo was obviously doing really well. A little competition can go a long way, but as it has been shown, Volvo's top execs would slam their fists and repeat how they were a safe car and that racing was too irresponsible and reckless for a safe car.
As we look at Volvo now there have been more than one occasion where this company almost ceased to exist (ala: Saab). I can't help but think their dogmatic approach to safety>performance has contributed. Their competitors who kept up on racing programs seem to be doing so much better and for sure BMW's image was not hurt because they went racing.
Certainly Volvo had led in many safety innovations, but for years now they have just been one of many car makers with high safety ratings. Ho-hum.
I can recall when the S60/V70R was introduced in 2003 and I attended some events that showcased them. The PR execs involved in that program were very specific about how these cars were "performance oriented" and more such cars would be expected from Volvo in the future. But of course the R program was dropped and suddenly we had R-Design cars. Lee Cordner was granted an interview with the VCNA CEO and asked about the future of performance cars and what R-Design was going to mean. He was told that the concept of "performance" was not in Volvo's future and that the "R" in R-Design (and the old R cars) meant (and always did mean) "refined" and nothing else. Incredible!
Dave B.