Volvo C70 Luxury at a reasonable price!
DEARBORN, July 27, 2007 — More than a year after arriving on the market, Volvo C70 retractable hardtop convertible still commands full sticker price at Roger Beasley Volvo in Austin, Texas, says David Stein, managing partner of the dealership.”It’s a big plus when you can build a car and 15 months later it still draws MSRP. The car is doing phenomenal. We’re selling every one we get,” said Stein.
Through June, the 2007 C70 more than doubled last year’s U.S. sales and is on a pace to sell about 5,000 units for the full year. The C70 is produced at Volvo’s Uddevalla plant in Sweden and is limited to about 11,000 units globally, according to Doug Speck, executive vice president, Sales and Marketing, Volvo Cars North America.
Yet, the 227-horsepower turbocharged five-cylinder C70 is extremely important to Volvo’s global lineup. For example, the car is attracting a different kind of customer to the automaker’s North American showrooms. About 64 percent of C70 buyers shopped other luxury brands — significantly higher than any other product in the Volvo lineup.
“It’s a good example of doing a product right,” said Speck. “It’s a beautiful design that is combined with a fun-to-drive experience at the right price for the consumer.
“Volvo is a brand that performs extremely well in areas such as confidence, safety and reliability. C70 is helping Volvo broaden its appeal, especially in more esoteric attributes like styling, fun-to-drive and proud-to-own.”
Reporter Petrina Gentile Zucco of The Globe and Mail (Canada) agrees. She wrote that the C70 is “not your typical Volvo” and added that with the top down, the car is “captivating.”
Unlike the previous-generation soft top C70 convertible, the current model is equipped with a retractable hardtop, the first in its segment. Speck says the decision to switch to a retractable hard top simplified the manufacturing process and better enabled Volvo to meet different consumer tastes in the large markets of Europe and the U.S.
“If you had an option of a coupe or convertible in Europe, 60 to 70 percent of those consumers would choose the coupe. It’s just the opposite in the U.S.,” explained Speck. “Today’s C70 combines the best qualities of both coupe and convertible. Plus, it was clear in our opinion that the segment was headed in that direction.”
The hot-selling Volvo C70 arrived in the U.S. market in 2006 and has set the benchmark for convertible safety in regards to occupant protection with a number of safety systems, including the unique Inflatable Curtain for side impact protection, the use of multiple grades of steel for frontal and rear collisions, and Volvo’s Roll Over Protection System (ROPS).
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