Volvo must abandon its quest to be considered ‘premium’ and come up with a new strategy, according to the firm’s recently installed boss, Stefan Jacoby.
The Swedish manufacturer is re-evaluating its product plan in the wake of its takeover by Chinese firm Geely. Jacoby believes it needs to stop chasing the ‘premium’ market high ground currently held by BMW, Audi and Mercedes.
“Let’s ditch this talk about premium,” said Jacoby. “It sounds like a pricing strategy and it’s got an expensive ring to it. We need to focus on elegant Scandinavian simplicity, our own unique identity, and not copy our competitors.”
Jacoby is targeting 800,000 sales per year by 2020, more than double the 380,000 units that Volvo expects to sell in 2010. He says that re-establishing the firm’s strength in the US market will be a crucial part of his plan.
“We have lost ground in the US,” explained the Volvo chief exec. “We are at the bottom, looking up.”
Volvo recently launched its compact SUV XC60 in the Indian market. The company also sells its S80 saloon as well as XC90 large SUV in India; it is soon going to launch its S60 saloon which will compete with the likes of Mercedes C class and BMW 3-series saloon.
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Dipan Sur
Dhruv Dhaka
