Hmmm. Just when I was thinking next time I'm in Dearborn we'll get together for lunch, along comes an insult. *My* father told me something pejorative about the character of those who would resort to such tactics. Let's call a truce on the name-calling and keep the discussion on topic. Reasonable men and women can disagree. You think the new Volvos are attractive, I don't. You think style is important to Volvo's survival, I think they could have better spent **some** of that money elsewhere and that the jury's still out. Would still like to get together with you for lunch next time I'm in town.

Whether I know about surviving in the automotive business, you may have a point. But I know something about design and branding...and am fascinated about the way this will play out when the dynamics of market forces are applied. Growth requires that new buyers snap up the new style faster than former militantly loyal buyers abandon it. Can it be done?

Generally, I have plenty of sympathizers in the world of automotive pundits (a couple have quoted me), who pretty much still think of Volvo as an off-brand, not up to par with their European counterparts. This perception, it seems to me, would have been better overcome by putting less into style and more into some of the invisible essentials of automotive character that are somehow seen as 'missing.' I'd rather see the S60 compared with the BMW 3-class...not with Altima (now there's an insult!).

Historically, Volvos have hardly all been bricks, so I'm not opposed to design/style changes, either, though I think a bit of vestigial 'brickishness' in the core product (S60/V70) would have been a far smarter branding move. I just think Horbury's ornate, baroque approach missed the mark by a serious margin. (I think the new XC's a winner, by the way, and the way to introduce new styling: by creating a new class. They also did that with the S80. Instead of making the S60 into an HO-scale version of the cruiserweight, they could have done something less ornate with the S70 cum S60...and given us a RWD coupe - another great styling opportunity that wouldn't compromise brand, and a car I'd be very likely to buy.)

So...let's do lunch?
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(98 S70 T5SE misc mods, mostly lighting) (92 940GLE)