Volvo Cars revealed full details of its plan to revive sales in the US, which will be led by a complete renewal of its entire product range in the next five years.
19 Dec 2014 | 2854 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Volvo Cars revealed full details of its plan to revive sales in the US, which will be led by a complete renewal of its entire product range in the next five years, a renewed focus on its dealer network, world first engine and safety technologies, a new management team and ...
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Volvo Cars revealed full details of its plan to revive sales in the US, which will be led by a complete renewal of its entire product range in the next five years, a renewed focus on its dealer network, world first engine and safety technologies, a new management team and increased marketing spending. The announcement of the plan comes at the LA Auto Show.
The Swedish company is confident that it can reverse a 10-year trend of falling sales in the US to sell around 100,000 cars a year in the medium term, compared to around 60,000 forecast sales this year.
“Volvo is in the US to stay. Not only will we stay, we will prosper,” said Håkan Samuelsson, President and Chief Executive of Volvo Cars. “We have a plan and we are implementing it. We sold over 100,000 cars a year in the US in the past. Our initial aim is to get back to that level and in the longer term surpass it.”
The key elements of the revival plan include:
A full scale strengthening of the brand with a marketing budget set to double in the next year
A focus on developing the dealer network to ensure the infrastructure is in place to support brand development and new products
A focus on managing residual values to ensure that the company’s premium position is reflected in the long term value of its products
A drive to improve service operations and deliver real profit opportunities to the dealer network as well as an uncompromising approach to service quality
This revival plan will be implemented by a new management team, which is already in place. It will also be underpinned by several new technologies. These include Drive-E, the most powerful and environmentally friendly engines on the market, world beating safety technologies and the latest connectivity capabilities.