Filed under: Marketing/Advertising, Crossovers/CUVs, Volvo
Volvo XC60 comes from Sweden with "leaves"
Click above for high-res gallery of the Volvo XC60
Vehicle sales are brutal everywhere of late, but Volvo has been tanking long before any industry-wide slowdown took place. That makes the March 2009 arrival of the XC60 crossover that much more important, as it's the first all-new Volvo (besides the low volume C30) in many years. Since customers have been turning away from the Volvo brand of late, marketing will play a big part of the XC60's success. Volvo has unleashed its new campaign for the CUV already with the tagline, "The new Volvo XC60. From Sweden with löv." We get it. Volvo is stressing its Swedish roots in marketing its new vehicle. Hey, it works for IKEA, right? Volvo even utilized the Swedish spelling for 'love' to give its new crossover more Euro appeal.
Our tipster Caitlin didn't think it works at all. The reason? Löv means 'leaves' in Swedish and has nothing to do with that certain brand of affection that makes our cheeks blush. According to Caitlin, Lov without the umlaut means 'vacation' or 'break', which sounds like a better advertising angle for a CUV than leaves, but just doesn't look as "Swedish" in print. The proper translation of 'love' into Swedish is "kärlek", so when you begin seeing the XC60 on U.S. streets next March, just remember that it comes from Sweden with kärlek. Thanks for the tip, Caitlin!
Gallery: 2009 Volvo XC60
[Source: Volvo]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
larry raines 6:13PM (10/02/2008)
wow, that thing has a logo-on-grill the size of a salad plate!
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Torrent 6:23PM (10/02/2008)
Is it just me or does this car look extremely futuristic?
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larry raines 6:29PM (10/02/2008)
it's you - there is no significant difference in styling between this and the xc90, which was introduced 5 years ago - with no real cosmetic improvements since.
Swede 4:19AM (10/03/2008)
Larry you havent seen the XC60 in real life have you? It's far, far different to a XC900.
john.paulsson 6:23PM (10/02/2008)
This is just awkward, as Swedish is my native tongue. Volvo's marketing office really need to grow a better sense of humor because that is just a seriously bad pun. Don't get yourselves tangled up in the löv-leaves thing, their intent was to draw a phonetic parallel to love and brag a bit about having a longer alphabet than you.
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k.w.a 6:30PM (10/02/2008)
i don't know why Volvo is doing so terribly. It's not like they're ugly like Acuras, uninspiring like Saabs, or boring like Lexuses.
my guess is that it's brand recognition. I think the average person still thinks that Volvos are those oddly styled boring safety boxes on wheels. Volvos arent flashy so they probably wont show up in music videos or high profile action movies. I think Volvo can be like the way Alfa is overseas. They can be known to be stylish, even if not flashy like BMW or Mercedes. It might take a while before they appear in hip-hop videos, but at least they can appeal to everyone else.
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SammySam 6:47PM (10/02/2008)
i think one of the reasons it isn't doing too well is because it can't shake off its "soccer mom" image
also; where i'm from, a guy driving a volvo conjures up images of a soy-latte sipping, skinny-jean wearing, metrosexual... the same goes for guys that drive Priuses too :-/
Tristan 8:49PM (10/02/2008)
I just bought my first Volvo and I'm 26 and definately not a tight jeans wearing person...
But the look of the C30 in Black Sapphire was just too good to resist!
Although the 5months delivery time was almost a deal breaker... I would NEVER usually wait that long, but I hope it's worth it!
homunculus 6:30PM (10/02/2008)
i just saw one on the road today, looked pretty swell.
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Jruhi4 6:41PM (10/02/2008)
As an FYI, Volvo is doing some sort of advance showing/driving event tour for the XC60 also bearing the "From Sweden With Löv" title. Here are links with more info, including registration:
http://www.volvovine.com/fall08/fall08_xc60lov.html?utm_campaign=vine_fall_08&utm_medium=htmlemail&utm_source=silverpop_email&utm_content=xc60_learnmore
http://www.volvocars.com/us/campaigns/Misc/Pages/XC60LaunchUS.aspx?deeplink=ExperientialTour
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Crackberry Addict 6:57PM (10/02/2008)
its really good looking but the mpg is horrible! 15/18/22 thats really sad for the size. the toyota highlander get 18 city and it way bigger.
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Crackberry Addict 6:58PM (10/02/2008)
"edit" the toyota get 17 but still.
Joakim 12:36AM (10/10/2008)
Haha, that's why Volvo decided only to launch it with the diesel engines here in Sweden. No one would have thought of that a year ago, heck no one would have thought of that 1 month ago as volvos are strongly associated with non and turbo straight gasoline fives =)
Chaz 8:01PM (10/02/2008)
I think Volvo's image problem delves a bit deeper than defacto soccer mom car. Besides, they've priced themselves out of that market in many cases. I seriously can't see where the S80 or C70 fit in the grand scheme of things, and that's a problem. And the pun? reminds me of ABC's "GRΣΣK" (pronounced grssk, presumably). Arnold did so well with VW, and far as I know, they still have the Volvo account, so this is a bit of a let-down.
Re k.w.a.
Interesting idea, but I think Saab would have the better chance (and some shared DNA) of being NA's Alfa. That or the impending return of the real deal.
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k.w.a 8:41PM (10/02/2008)
I agree, only if Saab has the balls to create its concepts.
OOMPH! 8:43PM (10/02/2008)
looks mycket bra!! but man,i do miss when Volvos were honest...200,700 even the older 140s svenka bilen
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CH 9:00PM (10/02/2008)
"That makes the March 2009 arrival of the XC60 crossover that much more important, as it's the first all-new Volvo (besides the low volume C30) in many years."
Huh?
All-new Volvo models in the US:
C70 2006
S80 2007
C30 2007
V70 2007
XC70 2007
That's 5 all-new models of a total of 9 released in the last 3 years; and 4 of them last year alone.
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Alex Dykes 11:16PM (10/02/2008)
Can we please get our facts right? Löv is not Swedish for love, it's a play on words and alphabets, and the XC60 is just as "new" as the new V70, XC70, and S80. The C30 is not "all new" since it is based on the 2005+ S40, V50 and C70. If we're just counting "new" then the C70 in 06, the S80 & C30 in 07 and the V70/XC70 in 08 should count.
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Razor1973 12:27AM (10/03/2008)
I look at that interior and it's my S80 all over again. Wasn't this supposed to be 100% new and fresh? On a pretty unrelated note, I am happy to say my lemon S80 will be in Volvo's hands again by the end of this month. After an S60R and my S80 V8, it's no more Volvos for me until MAYBE the next generation S60R, if there is even one.
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Eakarach 3:25AM (10/03/2008)
EXERIOR LOOK AWESOME! INTERIOR LOOK SOO UGLY!
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