Volvo - model year 12 launch

Tuesday, 26 July 2011 10:50

Continuing my week of Volvo, I was invited to test some of the new model year 12 vehicles along with a spot of sailing on the Solent.

I had not thought about why the sailing was involved, all I knew was that the south coast was a delightful place to be and the country lanes would be a perfect platform to test out this new range.

On arrival at Fish Hotel, near Chichester, I was greeted with a friendly selection of around sixteen cars that I could start to take out for a drive.
I chose the XC60DRIVe, an AWD vehicle that looked a decent shape and decidedly sturdy. With stats such as 149g/km CO2 and a travelling distance of 737 miles on one tank, it seemed to hide its weight well. Along with the cars I was greeted by a similarly friendly team from Volvo. I took the XC60DRIVe out through the landscape surrounding Goodwood House, rolling hills, windy lanes and terrific forests surrounding them. The ride was smooth and robust, pelting rain did not even deter me from enjoying driving this car. The acceleration was immediate and the breaking equally so.

Fabulous driver aids such as BLIS (blind spot recognition), red lights on top of the dash near the front window, to show you are too close, and a bleeping noise if you veer over the lane.

I must admit, that I have not really considered a Volvo for my driving habits, I am used to classic cars and for a modern form of transport I have automatically veered towards a 4WD that I could chuck all my kit in.
Surprising then that I have not thought of Volvo.

This is the beginning of the Volvo model year 12 launch and being my first motor vehicle test I was embarking on something rather different indeed. My
45 min drive ended up a little longer but returned to Fish House where other journalists had arrived from their first car test and we all settled in to find fabulous quirky chalet rooms, and a good chinwag before a presentation to explain the new philosophies at Volvo.

Where the technical details can be found on the Volvo website, the main items I took with me from the presentation was the idea that Volvo knows it clientele, that it is looking at the corporate fleet market to improve upon and these corporate companies really rely upon simply a few things, reduced
CO2 emissions, petrol consumption and the competiveness of the car amongst other marques.

Something that took me by surprise was the idea that Volvo sponsor sailing.

They nurture from the young to the experienced Olympic level. They support Cowes week and have a number of Volvo racing teams. I had no idea about this and wondered why, but then it did become blindingly obvious, that Volvo is a robust vehicle that can withstand the elements, it also has a large luggage capacity which can fit all the kit in.

Duncan Forrester from Volvo says; “The sailing community is 7 times more likely to buy a Volvo than the average man in the street.”

Quite true when you look at the affluent position of the people that sail.
The average basic yacht costs around £100k, certainly in a position then to be looking at the level of vehicle that Volvo produces. The same with Golf, which in fact is the second sport that Volvo support.

Another thing that also passed me by was the ‘Naughties’ advertising campaign, probably I, like others have made the guys at Volvo realise that this form of marketing did not achieve the desired response. However, with a new marketing director, Volvo are back on track with promotion and have identified their audience. A number of charts were shown stating how Volvo are surpassing other marques and are indeed a very good competitor, information that can be found on the website along with the details of fuel and CO2 consumption.

Waking from blissfully quiet sleep after a wonderful Lobster dinner we set off on semi full stomachs all smelling of Grapefruit, in the second of our chosen cars. I went out in the T6 Polestar, a vehicle I wanted to drive seeing as I had met the Polestar team at Donington last weekend at the WTCC.

My gosh, it was fast of the line. Took no time to get to 60 and in sport mode really let loose. Overtaking was a breeze and held the ground really well. With all the benefits of driver aids, the stereo system had a full menu and the surround sound was excellent. This car was a speedy thing with comfort too. Not too hard yet really knew where it was going. I had left last in the convoy meandering around the West Sussex country lanes however arrived second at the stop off point. I had not even thought that this car could arrive before others in our fleet, but mile by mile this car took advantage of the Polestar optimisation upgrades and I could see how the race car would benefit too.

Arriving at Hambling we left the cars to go on the Volvo Racing yachts.
Equipped with waterproofs and a lifejacket, we made our way to Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Captain Platman (that’s me) took to the helm and safely sailed our team to the other side (actually it was not particularly a rough sea and the other team members did do some work to get the yacht going!).

Healthy lunch on Cowes and a sail back to drive the third of our chosen cars. The V60 DRIVe (119g/km CO2 travelling 930 miles on one tank). The same format as the initial car I drove, but for me after the T6 and the AWD, I felt that this car really worked well for around town and I expected the same zip as the T6. It did however have the new luxuries that I had begun to expect from Volvo, of lane drifting and blind spot amongst others. Again technical details are on the Volvo website. But for me, I really think that Volvo has all of a sudden become a vehicle to be looked at, both in innovation and design but with the need for better fuel economy and reduced
CO2 emissions. On all models there is superb storage and the Polestar collaboration is working well. I even got to drive the new electric car still not quite in production. Silent with a 70 mile range. Good for cities, not quite sure about getting out of one, if there are not facilities to recharge.

The new image that Volvo are wanting to show is certainly working, I can appreciate why the sailing community are buying their cars and I think that this ‘trend’ can certainly be spread to other areas of the market who want a reliable, good looking and economic car.

Thank you to Duncan and the Volvo team for such a memorable day. A day of firsts; both test driving a current model and sailing. Fabulous. By Lara Platman

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