You are right, Yuri -

there is a craze in Europe about small cars with super engines (over 200hp) which makes them aluminum foil rockets. The Seat (Volkswagen models) are strong here.

The nasty thing is visiting the scrapyards and seeing the wrecks of these small tins. When you see the engine or front wheel pushed on to the front seat while the windshield is still intact - you know why Volvo left the Dutch DAF models (300 series). Small fast cars do not appeal to the same audience as safe cars. The 850 is/was a break in Volvo Policy.

Volvo is quite expensive - and has still a little "Uncle Olaf" image.

You have to work almost a lifetime and have a family before you can afford and appreciate a Volvo :) - in Denmark, it was a joke that only engineers rode Volvo's - they don't buy the sales talk, they buy the facts - and are very hard to please because of big demands to the car. Recognize anything ? ;)

(By the way - the Danish AAA picks up an incredible amount of danish cars just south of the German border - many Danes floor the cars when they go south the border between Denmark and Germany which has almost free speed. The cars do not last long after a life with US-like speed regulations - and then beeing floored. Norwegians arriving by ferry in Denmark also has some incredible accidents on the first few miles on the straight Danish road - because they seldom have flat open road in front of them.)

And yes - Ford took a chance on design - and paid the price. The Edsel ghost got a new face. They had to stop selling the topmodel - it was ugly.

Seen in the light of this - it was natural to buy Volvo to have a share of the upper market.

(The new Mercedes C series headlights has a little of the fatal Ford look)