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It was the sight of Jan Lammers and Rickard Rydell wrestling their unapologetically boxy Volvo 850 estates across the circuits of Britain within the 1994 British Touring Automobile Championship that did it for me.
Neglect the Alfa Romeos that gained the whole lot that 12 months: it was Volvo, maker of protected, sensible, boxy automobiles, that turned cool in my eyes.
The road-going 850, with its transverse engine, Delta-link rear axle, aspect impression safety system and different improvements, was a seminal automobile for Volvo. It was the results of a growth programme generally known as Undertaking Galaxy, which on the time was the most important single industrial funding in Swedish historical past. That’s how essential saloons and estates had been for Volvo.
So the information that Volvo is eradicating its saloons and estates from sale within the UK is massively important and a blow to these of us who love automotive selection – but it surely’s not solely surprising. The agency’s revitalisation during the last decade or so has come from the unbelievable success of its SUVs, and their gross sales dwarf these of the S and V mannequin strains.
Volvo goes SUV-only in UK as all saloon and property automobiles axed
In a way, the cull of the saloons and estates is a by-product of Volvo’s ongoing transformation beneath firm boss Jim Rowan – whose background is in tech, not automotive – from a automobile agency right into a tech firm that produces electrical automobiles.
Rowan might be tired of being requested about future electrical Volvo saloons and estates in media classes, and his inventory reply is that nothing is dominated out and he would love to supply such fashions sooner or later, however the agency continues to be comparatively small and has to decide on the place to focus.
That makes absolute enterprise sense and is backed up by the energy of Volvo’s SUV line-up, however nonetheless… It looks like Volvo gained’t actually be full with out safety-first saloons and brilliantly boxy estates. You solely must drive into the Swedish countryside to see the recognition of such fashions in sure areas.
Absolutely when the market is true sooner or later, Volvo will provide saloons and estates once more. They are going to be electrical and have a heavy concentrate on software program, expertise and security. And hopefully, they are going to be as straight-edged as ever.
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