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Is Volvo Leaving Its Comfort Zone?
Volvo’s design of their cars in the past can be summed up in one word - boxy. The past models of the company known for producing safe cars can be easily identified by their boxy appearance. The reason behind the design concept is to ensure the safety of the car’s occupants, thus both the body and the chassis are made tough to the point that it does not command high aesthetic value. But the trend has been changing for the past ten years - the company has now been producing cars which bear no resemblance to the boxy designs of the past models. This is done without sacrificing the safety standards of the cars being produced.
The evolution in the design of the company’s mass produced cars is due to its goal of catching the attention of younger buyers which value the good looks of a car as much as its interior designing and performance level. The company’s top designer, Simon Lamarre, is continuing the company’s drive to produce stylish cars which are aimed at the Generation Y consumers which are categorically those buyers between 25 and 35 years of age. Mr. Lamarre is the genius behind the company’s newest addition to the company’s lineup, the compact sedan Volvo C30. The car was recently unveiled at the Montreal International Auto Show for which the Ford Motor Company owned brand was absent for the past couple of years.
The Volvo C30 was the star of the company’s show at the auto show. It has been created and displayed as a two-door hatchback with an exterior design that does not show any “boxiness” in contrast to the past models of the car manufacturer. The car is the first outing of the company in the premium compact car market and this car is going against tough competition in the class. Its competition includes the Audi A3, the Mini Cooper, the Mazda3 and the Volkswagen GTI. The company is counting on the car’s stylish exterior design to get a large portion of the market in its class, after all, the safety of the car is already a given. The manufacturer’s strong selling point is the car’s performance level enhanced by Volvo performance chips and various high performance parts.
The car’s design have already received much praise from the automotive industry and this can only help the company’s bid for a share in the luxury compact car market. The design has been touted “some of the best small-car architecture in the world right now” by James Sanfilippo who is the executive vice-president and senior analyst with AMCI, an auto consultant which is based in Michigan. This shows that the entire decade of the company’s efforts to develop a design that will attract the attention of younger buyers was not in vain. The car is designed to hook up its prospective younger clientele to be loyal to the brand thus increasing the chances of the company’s earning more profits for the oncoming future.
The step made by the company outside its comfort zone is aimed to make profit - a feat they have not been able to accomplish in the past years. It is hoped that a new generation of car buyers will be turned on by the stylish designs of the newer models and its already impressive safety standards.
About the Author: Glady Reign is a 32 year old is a consultant for an automotive firm based in Detroit, Mi. she is a native of the Motor City and grew up around cars hence her expertise in the automotive field.
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