Volvo drops all estate & saloon models and now only sell SUVs

[markjay]

I think I saw something to the effect that Volvo won't be selling anything with a maximum speed above 112 mph too. Another reason not to buy one...

My EV is limited by software to 115mph (that's what the manual says). It never occurred to me that it might be a problem....?

 

[E55BOF]

My AMGs aren't, and it isn't...

No doubt I'll feel differently when I grow up.

 

[Will]

Mercedes R Class.

There’s a couple of good posts on this from forum member @Bobby Dazzler

Not sure Volvo dropping estate cars is quite the same thing though as what was a quirky/concept type of car that didn’t do as well as some thought it might have. They still had the ML and GL being sold simultaneously. A sort of hedged bet?

 

[AnnasMerc83]

As someone who lives in London, that news for me …. Hate the suvs; I disagree that people get them for practicality reasons and it’s Defs some new status symbol.
My neighbours got one when they had a baby, noticed it’s been replaced with something smaller (baby is only a few weeks old!) since they couldn’t park the thing (even with all the bells and whistles!).

I best get cracking to buy my dream Volvo 240, before they start appreciating!

 

[Wagon]

As someone who lives in London, that news for me …. Hate the suvs; I disagree that people get them for practicality reasons and it’s Defs some new status symbol.
My neighbours got one when they had a baby, noticed it’s been replaced with something smaller (baby is only a few weeks old!) since they couldn’t park the thing (even with all the bells and whistles!).

I best get cracking to buy my dream Volvo 240, before they start appreciating!

this is the posting you need.. Lambo V10 into an old Volvo..

 

[markjay]

We had a Kia Soul II and now a Suzuki Vitara, both are technically SUVs (albeit a mini-SUV), they are very small cars but extremely practical, when you fold the rear seat you get hugh space for moving stuff thanks to the boxy shape. No such luck with the W204... which was a bigger car but not ideal for transporting boxes. I never owned a full-size SUV, but I can relate to the charm it has on those who do.

 

[markjay]

this is the posting you need.. Lambo V10 into an old Volvo..

Can you get Tonneau covers for the Lambo Rambo...?

 

[Will]

Hate the suvs; I disagree that people get them for practicality reasons and it’s Defs some new status symbol.

Perhaps I’m missing something here, but why would an SUV like a Volvo be any more of a status symbol than say a BMW, Audi or MB of similar age/value?

How about if you need a 6/7 seater, does that not somewhat limit the choice of vehicles and perhaps it’s mainly SUVs that offer this?

On the flip side of this comment, surely if everyone’s buying SUVs nowadays, to show you’ve ‘made it’ you’d be looking for something that stood out. Range Rovers may have turned heads 30/40 years back but not anymore - every Tom, **** and Harry has one now

 

[ALFAitalia]

My AMGs aren't, and it isn't...

No doubt I'll feel differently when I grow up.

But they were restricted out of the factory....and I'm sure delimiting the EVs and Volvos will be just as easy.

I can't imagine I will EVER feel old enough that driving a Volvo will seem like a good idea....to me they are the very definition of an "old man's car".....
.....mind you as one of them (and its elderly driver) are the reason I have 4 titanium plates and about 60 screws the the left arm that I nearly lost, I might be slightly biased against them!

 

[Spider10]

The V70 D5 is 1 of the best cars ive ever owned for work purposes and pulling power , i also quite like the V90 but with a 2.0l diesel no thanks they should of stuck with the 5 cylinder

 

[AnnasMerc83]

Perhaps I’m missing something here, but why would an SUV like a Volvo be any more of a status symbol than say a BMW, Audi or MB of similar age/value?

How about if you need a 6/7 seater, does that not somewhat limit the choice of vehicles and perhaps it’s mainly SUVs that offer this?

On the flip side of this comment, surely if everyone’s buying SUVs nowadays, to show you’ve ‘made it’ you’d be looking for something that stood out. Range Rovers may have turned heads 30/40 years back but not anymore - every Tom, **** and Harry has one now

Never said there was any common sense attached to the suv being the ‘it’ car. I guess the good old range rovers and discoveries started it, being the celebrity car of choice, but unaffordable for many … the ‘poor mans’ pick is the suv.

What’s wrong with a people carrier?!

The orthodox Jewish community in Stamford Hill seem to all go for the various reincarnations of a good old Toyota people carrier, and they have kids in the double digits!

 

[baxlin]

The V70 D5 is 1 of the best cars ive ever owned for work purposes and pulling power , i also quite like the V90 but with a 2.0l diesel no thanks they should of stuck with the 5 cylinder

If my C70 was typical of the 5 cylinder diesel, (D3) you couldn’t be more wrong! Biggest money pit I have owned in nearly 60 years of driving. Almost all engine related problems, so unreliable, and low mileage, so not wear and tear.

 

[Darrell]

The orthodox Jewish community in Stamford Hill seem to all go for the various reincarnations of a good old Toyota people carrier, and they have kids in the double digits!

The same in Golders Green.
If you’re a cyclist beware the dented Previa with the driver on the phone, no seatbelt on and half a dozen kids jumping around. Wife is Jewish but lucky we’ve only one daughter so no need for one.

 

[markjay]

Never said there was any common sense attached to the suv being the ‘it’ car. I guess the good old range rovers and discoveries started it, being the celebrity car of choice, but unaffordable for many … the ‘poor mans’ pick is the suv.

What’s wrong with a people carrier?!

The orthodox Jewish community in Stamford Hill seem to all go for the various reincarnations of a good old Toyota people carrier, and they have kids in the double digits!

I believe that the Americans had the Ford Bronco, the Jeep Wagoneer, and the International Harvester Scout well before production of the Range rover started here, but certainly it was the first SUV to impact the market in the UK and Europe.

As for people carriers, aka MPV, the precursors of the amazing Toyota Previa (we had one for 20 years) were the VW Microbus and the Renault Espace.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

There’s a couple of good posts on this from forum member @Bobby Dazzler

Not sure Volvo dropping estate cars is quite the same thing though as what was a quirky/concept type of car that didn’t do as well as some thought it might have. They still had the ML and GL being sold simultaneously. A sort of hedged bet?

Spot on.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

It’s horses for courses at the end of the day.

I think the E-class estate is a great family car if you only need five seats. If you need six or more it has to be something else - for me I moved onto the GL-class four or so years back.

I don’t think I’d go back. Sure the E-class drives better as you’d expect but the space and practicality of the GL is immense.

If you’re not in the market for something like an SUV then you’d probably not get the appeal. Same as someone with a family or a dog or whatever wouldn’t want an SLK or SL etc. Second guessing someone’s reasoning for their choice of car is a bit silly really unless you know them well!

Manufacturers clearly know their market and wouldn’t make changes to their offerings if it wasn’t in their best interests. They don’t usually get this sort of stuff wrong

Which is fine where you have the need, the roads and the garage to take that generous seven seater.

Which is why the GL sells well in the States and Middle East.

The problem for us clowns in European cities is that we don’t have the parking places, the garages or even the wives to cope with them, nor TBH, the need for that much space.

Fulham’s rough, but try parking one when you’re out for dinner in Paris or Rome, and you’ll end up in a slot outside the Ring Road.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I think I saw something to the effect that Volvo won't be selling anything with a maximum speed above 112 mph too. Another reason not to buy one...

Won’t be the last, of course. Speed limiters and speed recorders are on the agenda for the EU regulators.

Phase 1 is the software now on board to recognise speed limits wherever we drive. Phase 2 is the recording of actual journey driving speeds for the use of insurance companies, police forces and collision investigators.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Perhaps I’m missing something here, but why would an SUV like a Volvo be any more of a status symbol than say a BMW, Audi or MB of similar age/value?

How about if you need a 6/7 seater, does that not somewhat limit the choice of vehicles and perhaps it’s mainly SUVs that offer this?

On the flip side of this comment, surely if everyone’s buying SUVs nowadays, to show you’ve ‘made it’ you’d be looking for something that stood out. Range Rovers may have turned heads 30/40 years back but not anymore - every Tom, **** and Harry has one now

Ditto the Porsche Macan. No street cred now that there’s a used on on every School run

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Hate the suvs; I disagree that people get them for practicality reasons and it’s Defs some new status symbol.

I’m sure there will be exceptions to prove the rule but the only people I ever hear saying that an SUV is a status symbol is people who are very much against them, and a tiny minority of people who have very small pseudo SUVs like a Vauxhall Mokka.

I know lots of people who thought they didn’t” want or need an SUV - say 25 years ago - who now would ‘t go back to a hatchback, saloon or estate, now that they owned one. I can’t think of anyone I know in real life who hates SUVs though.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Time for a thread on the end of the manual gearbox? Unloved by Mercedes owners and engineers, for sure, but set to disappear by 2035 for BMW’s and the rest.