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This is possibly quite risky, maybe more for Ford than Volvo. There can be only so many cars for the masses, and as good as they are none of the following cars for the masses inspire the kind of awe you want when you drop the name 'Volvo:' Taurus, Accord, Camry, Altima. After all, there's only so much mass out there. What I'd want as a marketing/brand executive would be balance within a healthy niche where you can provide value at a fair and profitable price. But you can't maintain this pricing strategy if you want to get the masses to buy. More importantly, if you build it (and style it) for the masses, then you've chased away precisely the buyer I think you'd really want: they family that can drop $40K+ on a family car and wants something that makes more of an image statement than a car for the masses. (Otherwise he'd have bought an Accord sedan or a Taurus wagon and saved $15K or more! Taurus wagon is very nice-looking by the way.)
Audi is kind of a reverse twist: a collapsed amalgam of four auto makers (hence the four rings in their logo, the name 'Audi' is a nickname for the original unified corporation). They make pretty good cars...self consciously clean (almost sterile) design, lots of innovation, but very complex, and very expensive. They have the value product - the B5 (Passat).
Anyway, if I can do lunch on the expense account, then it's on...my employer! Can't say when I'll be in Dearborn next, though.
I'll be away till Monday, so have a good weekend.
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(98 S70 T5SE misc mods, mostly lighting) (92 940GLE)
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