battyr Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Good point. You got to realize that this is a very USA-centric forum, whose list members, by and large, have never been outside the continental US. Americans really don't realize how strong and dominant VW is in Europe. So VW is the GM of Europe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Reynolds Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Good point. You got to realize that this is a very USA-centric forum, whose list members, by and large, have never been outside the continental US. Americans really don't realize how strong and dominant VW is in Europe. Hogwash! I absolutely love it how people always assume how American's don't know or don't care about anything that doesn't happen stateside. Most of the time it isn't true. Man that's so annoying. Besides how can anyone neglect the fact (or be that clueless) to ignore how well most European manufacturer's perform on their own continent. That said the brand has a lot of issues with being able to properly apply a decent product strategy stateside, designs that have gone downhill, a horrible dealer service network, the continuous struggle on attempting luxury brand status and lagging quality. Things that don't bode well for any manufacturer. I don't care how well they do in Europe and other markets, the US market has proven time and time again that it is an entirely different market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Reynolds Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 But that's the thing. Volvo produces some good cars but it's a much more price sensitive company than JLR. JLR already operates in the market sector above Volvo and by the looks of it has been largely fixed. Volvo on the other hand will never easily slot into the sector above without loosing a lot of sales in the process. For some weird reason it seems as though Ford is trying to turn Volvo into JLR, when if people want a car like that they simply won't buy a Volvo. Volvo is in a very difficult position. It makes great cars but at the wrong prices or without sufficient volume. Volvo is making a loss because it's US sales are collapsing on the strength of the Dollar. JLR's response has been to sell less for more and make more cash. With all due respect to Volvo they can't play that hand. That in a nutshell is the problem with Volvo. Frankly the only answer is to set up US factories for them. Which will be popular in Sweden.....not. Here we go with JLR again. How is Ford trying to turn Volvo into JLR? And JLR's response has been to sell less? If I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure the brands never sold a whole plethora of vehicles to begin with. I also find it amusing how you mention JLR as if they have been independent and make their own decisions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edstock Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Rumours are they want a US car maker that's not Chrysler (i.e bigger than them) or that they will open some US factories and will aim to match Toyota's sales numbers within a decade. Well, Porsche had to borrow a lot of money to buy VW stock to get control. That money has to be paid back, and as you may be aware, banks are very nervous these days. So, VW is going to buy a US car maker "bigger than Chrysler", when the US car market is imploding and the controlling Porsche interest needs every penny of VW profit to pay off the banks? Yeah, right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Either way I feel they will make a significant impact soon. On that we can agree. But I'm thinking impact as in "crash landing". And they ain't that strong in EU. If they were in great shape, everything fine, on the way to doubling sales and passing Toyota and all that, Porsche wouldn't be in the process of turning into the old lady that swallowed the horse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 So VW is the GM of Europe. Basically yes. In 2007, the VW group had about 20% of the European Market while Ford (Ford and PAG) and GM (Opel/Vauxhall, Chevy and Saab) each had about 10.5%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 I absolutely love it how people always assume how American's don't know or don't care about anything that doesn't happen stateside. Most of the time it isn't true. Sorry, most of the time it is true. Most folks on this list don't have a clue or interest in what happens in the auto industry outside of the U.S. My guess as to this list's demographics? 95% from the U.S., 99% male, 90% white and 70% between ages 25 - 40 . Hardly a representative sample of the world's population. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKII Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 http://www.volkswagenag.com/vwag/vwcorp/in..._GB_2007_en.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Jellymoulds Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 (edited) But that's the thing. Volvo produces some good cars but it's a much more price sensitive company than JLR. JLR already operates in the market sector above Volvo and by the looks of it has been largely fixed. Volvo on the other hand will never easily slot into the sector above without loosing a lot of sales in the process. For some weird reason it seems as though Ford is trying to turn Volvo into JLR, when if people want a car like that they simply won't buy a Volvo. Volvo is in a very difficult position. It makes great cars but at the wrong prices or without sufficient volume. Volvo is making a loss because it's US sales are collapsing on the strength of the Dollar. JLR's response has been to sell less for more and make more cash. With all due respect to Volvo they can't play that hand. That in a nutshell is the problem with Volvo. Frankly the only answer is to set up US factories for them. Which will be popular in Sweden.....not. Volvo are let down by poor advertising it pretty dull to watch, l live in NW Surrey and you can't help but notice how a lot of the big multii-millionaireres houses now have small French cars parked outside their mansions it always used to be Beamers, Mercs & VW's with the odd few Jags & Volvo's. Local Jag dealers at Walton on Thames went bust last year, rich folk are not so bothered about status cars these days. Renault's advertising is so much better. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qIQKu0Ekrm0 Edited April 27, 2008 by Ford Jellymoulds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critic Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Ford Seeks to Cut Costs by Lowering Volvo Production Ford Motor Co. is cutting production at its Volvo unit as a way to trim the costs and losses at the upscale Swedish brand. The production cut, which could affect one-third of workers at one of its two Volvo plants in Europe, comes amid speculation that Ford is priming Volvo for a sale. Ford has said publicly that it doesn't plan a sale, but Chief Executive Alan Mulally has told top executives he wants to eventually seek a buyer, according to people familiar with the matter. "Our priority now is to improve the [Volvo] business dramatically," Mr. Mulally told analysts ... WSJ Link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critic Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 coll And you are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P71_CrownVic Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 And you are? Good question...but I assume the anonymous coward will hide behind his fake identity. Oh well, this will be getting very interesting and funny... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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