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ESC mandate ‘unfair’
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“Everyone is saying that it is going to make
so much difference to the amount of road
carnage, then let the state premiers, who are all
pushing for this road safety, to come forward
and compensate somehow. Otherwise, the end
user ends up paying.”
Mr Desselss said that the FCAI was taking
that argument to the government but was not
necessarily getting a good hearing.
While Mr Desselss said that Volvo was proud
of its safety record, he indicated a shift in image
for the Swedish brand, with the emphasis on
“good styling and good performance”.
“I think that everybody expects most motor
vehicles to be safe. I think what we’ve got to
do is to continue to pioneer safety features
and that’s what we do. That’s what Volvo is so
good at. The Swedes are very passionate about
safety in motoring and that will continue.
“Our long-term strategy would be to
make sure that we concentrate on where
our core values and our strengths are, and
that means the V range and the XC range.
The heartland for Volvo is in the wagon and
the XC range.
“We do not want to take the Germans on in
their heartland, which is sedans and coupes, but
we want to offer a good European alternative
for people that are tired of the Germans.
“Conquesting away from other manufacturers
is going to be hard at this stage, especially with
the push from Audi, which is on a mission –
buying market share to be up with BMW – but
they’ve got a long way to go if they want to get
there and they’ll have to spend a lot of money.
“We just can’t do that, so I think we’ll be
very happy to maintain our current (share) and
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A PRIL 16, 2008 Page 9
then look for growth out of new models.”
He is happy with Volvo’s current market
share and sales of around 6000 a year (having
grown from less than 3000 in 2005), but the
expected C10 light car will take Volvo into a
big new market segment.
Asked about the C10, which will use the
new Mazda2/Ford Fiesta platform, he said “if
it gets launched, we’ll defi nitely get it” and it
would add signifi cant volume for Volvo.
“I think there’s an opportunity there. Clearly
we’re seeing a shift away from large cars to
smaller cars, but that is an opportunity that
most manufacturers will be exploring.”
S40