Volvo will stop selling its mid-size sedan, the S40, and its station wagon “twin”, the V50, in the USA during the 2012 MY. The reason? You guessed it; poor sales. According to Volvo spokesman Dan Johnston, US deliveries of the two models were disappointingly low with the S40 down 29% in 2010, while the V50 fared even worse, with its sales dropping by more than 50%.
"It seemed American buyers weren't looking for that kind of product and for us as a car company, it's not profitable to sell something that has a declining market share”, Johnston told Autonews.
Since the V70 was also discontinued last year, that leaves Volvo with a US line-up consisting of the C30 hatchback, C70 coupe-cabriolet, S60 sedan, the S80 sedan, the XC60 SUV, the XC70 (the only station wagon) and the XC90 SUV.
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11 Comments:
The V70 was the best product Volvo had in it's lineup. Until the V60 comes out, Volvo is as relevant as Mercury, Pontiac, and Saturn.
Ha...poor sales? How did THAT happen? Let's see...if you don't adequately advertise, update, or freshen a product...who will notice it? More people know what a Hyundai Sonata is these days.
The V70 lives on in the U.S. as a variant to the XC70 -- it is the same wagon, with AWD available -- the "X" in XC70 (XC for "Cross Country") signifying all-wheel-drive.
the c30 is a great little car. i am hoping that volvo brings out a series of cars based on the next generation, if not sooner. a small sedan, 2 or 4 seater convertible, crossover (if not a wagon) and sedan would be cool.
"The V70 lives on in the U.S. as a variant to the XC70 -- it is the same wagon, with AWD available -- the "X" in XC70 (XC for "Cross Country") signifying all-wheel-drive."
Correct, but it has differences in the suspension settings -and even Volvo itself doesn't refer to it as a SW, but as a crossover.
Not terribly surprising I'm afraid, and it wouldn't surprise me if it disappears on this side of the pond soon too.
It's alway been neather here nor there in Europe, neather Golf rival or Passat. It also looks slightly odd, Volvo styling wedged onto a mark 2 Focus platform, so therefore looking slab sided, too narrow and a bit too tall.
The C30 also strikes me as a bit of an oddity as well.
Poor sales are a result of it being an old product, Volvo should not have withdrawn this model but just hurry up with the replacement.
Traditionally low sales volume imports in the U.S. are facing increasingly stiff competition from all over the world, not to mention better domestic offerings over the last few years. For automakers, it's now an "improve or lose" scenario. In the eyes of the consumer, they also have to have cutting edge products with either a perceived or actual, improved reliability. I'm sure Toyota could tell us something about that! Volvo is one of those companies that just isn't doing what is needed to attract consumers. I'm not sure if U.S. consumers know where to place Volvo in the hierarchy of European imports. That sort of leaves them out in the cold.
The new headlights look almost identical to the current Chevy Monte Carlo - horrible and cheap. The design direction on the new front fascia just doesn't work with the rest of the car either. And they wonder why sales suck. Unattractive cars do not produce sales.
I think it's the gas price that did it. any other cars that run on 91 octane will see a decline in sale.
UNCOOL.
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