Detailed specifications are still unclear but we already know that Volvo's much publicised pedestrian detection collision warning system will be available on the higher range variants, as is Volvo's BLIS Blind Spot Indication System. An estate version (very important for European markets) will be released later in its model life, but will be badged as a V60. This is slightly off from Volvo's current naming convention for its estate models - which are all odd multiples of ten; i.e. V50 and V70, while their sedan counterparts are badged S40 and S80. Volvo 5-cylinder turbo diesel engine will also be available and a new 1.6-litre Gasoline Turbocharged Direct Injection (GTDi) engine is expected join the line-up by its mid-life model cycle. Production will begin in mid-2010 in Ghent, Belgium. Asia-Pacific and ASEAN markets will only receive the car by Q4 2010 or early 2011.
A quick seach of Volvo in Google however, will suggest that the public as well as the media is less interested in the S60 than Geely's acquisition of Volvo Cars. There have been much criticism regarding Geely's bid for Volvo. Sino-phobes have been posting a lot of rubbish on low rate automotive forum threads and blogs - saying that Geely will destroy the Volvo's brand value and that the Chinese will turn Volvo into a maker of cheap low quality Chinese cars. Even Volvo's union are protesting against Geely's acquisition.
These are concerns which this site's editor would like to address by asking a simple question - has Ford been a good custodian of the Volvo Cars brand? Many decades ago, Volvo was a Tier-1 luxury brand in many markets, including ASEAN region of Malaysia and Singapore. The older folks will remember that Volvo 140 and then the 240 series was the car of choice for government bureaucrats as well as high income professionals. This was at a time when BMW was a little known Bavarian automaker who makes dinky little small cars. It was a decent alternative to the default luxury brand - Mercedes-Benz. When Ford acquired Volvo Cars in the 1990s and parked it under its now disbanded Premier Automotive Group (PAG), Volvo's brand value continue to slide further behind the Germans, being overtaken by BMW and even Audi. The Swedish car maker failed to remain relevant to an increasingly extroverted luxury car buyer market and kept banging on the old and well worn unique selling point of safety - which has since been bested even by Renault and Peugeot, not to mention the regular German marques. Volvo may have benefited from Ford's platform and drivetrain, but as a custodian of an illustrious and unique brand (which is critics of Geely main argument), Ford left Volvo out in the cold to fend for itself.
Geely is an entirely different animal from the regular Chinese domestic car brands like Chery or SAIC - Geely is an entirely private and independent car maker, founded by Li Shufu, dubbed as China's Henry Ford. Being a private company, Geely makes its decisions a lot faster. Geely is currently China's largest privately controlled car maker.
Like it or not, the money is now in Asia, and we are not talking about Japan. We have seen how this year's Shanghai Motor Show pushed Tokyo Motor Show into irrelevance. Tata took over Jaguar and Land Rover and while the current economic slump have complicated matters a little, there is no reason to think that Tata will replace these brand's British heritage with India's interpretation of upper class aristocratic automotive style. Like wise, why would Geely, after bidding so hard and paying so much to own the Volvo brand - decide to flush everything down the toilet by driving the brand to down market? Geely is a highly ambitious car company and it knows the value of a brand - of how many decades it takes to build up a brand. The Chinese are not interested in waiting for another 50 years to build up their brand the way Western car brands developed themselves. More importantly, I believe the main reason for Geely to acquire Volvo is to gain access to technology as well as marketing channels into Europe and United States. Designing a vehicle is one thing but exporting it to a developed market and meeting all the regulatory compliance and vehicle homologation is another matter all together. And this is where Volvo comes in. But the part about technology will be a rather tricky issue because many of Volvo's technology is developed using Ford's money, and Ford may not be so keen to hand over these intellectual property rights to Geely.
While Geely's founder is ambitious, it is not blinded by any misguided faith in themselves. They acknowledge their limited experience in managing a global brand. Geely have even pledged that Volvo will continue to be run by an independent management team operating out of Gothenburg, Sweden itself rather than China. They will also maintain all existing Volvo dealer networks, R&D facilities and honour all existing contracts with the union. Volvo have been falling behind the German marques in the technology race, partly due to Ford's marginalization of the brand. Geely on the other hand recognised the problem and has even acquired bankrupt Australian transmission specialist Drivetrain Systems International.
"I'm fighting for what's in overseas automakers' rice bowls instead of their leftovers, I want to build Geely into a global first-tier automaker," Li Shufu, founder of Geely Holdings Group Co.
Watch the documentary below of Li Shufu below.
The rest of the videos can be viewed here. I would recommend to watch all 9 parts of the video before brushing off Geely.
Ford had their chance with Jaguar and Volvo, and both brands spent a large part of their years there lagging behind the competition, marginalized by a lack of critical investment and talent injection. At the rate things are going, Volvo Cars don't have much else to lose by going into bed with Geely, other than losing their already weak sales. If Volvo wishes to restore its brand to its former glory and give the Germans a good run for their money, their next best bet now is to leverage on Geely's financial backing and connections to put more models into production in domestic China, now the largest car market in the world.
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