Premium mid-size sedan returns with what you see is what you get pricing
A transparent no-discounting pricing policy will be a central to the customer pitch when Volvo returns to the Australian luxury car market in August with the new-generation S60.
Essentially, the Swedish brand will try to lever a share of the premium sedan segment from the dominant Mercedes-Benz C-Class and its primary pursuer, the BMW 3 series, with equivalent pricing and more equipment rather than discounting.
“I want to be below the competition in terms of spec-adjusted positioning, but at a transaction price that is there or there abouts,” Volvo Car Australia managing director Nick Connor told carsales.com.au.
Momentum
Connor, a Briton who has been in charge at VCA since March 2018, said he wanted to avoid the deep discounting prevalent in the Australian new-vehicle market.
“The Australian market has a relatively high retail price and lots of discounting to get the price down to a price the consumers are prepared to pay,” he said.
“What I would prefer to do is have a sensible pricepoint to start with, not have lots of discounting and say to the customer ‘this is a very well specified beautiful car with everything on it you want as standard’.
“The price you see advertised is pretty close to the transaction price … and that’s the strategy. It makes things much more transparent to the customer and the dealers.
New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
“I am a big believer in transparency.”
Connor says he would like the strategy to generate 500-1000 sales per annum for the latest S60, which goes on sale in August. He admitted the brand did debate whether to bring the car in at all.
“The segment in Australia is declining, but it’s still worth going after. There are still a hard-core of customers who want a four-door sedan.
“We looked at the car and asked, ‘can it compete in the marketplace?’ We think it is different enough that it can.”
New Volvo S60 Momentum
Connor explained S60 would help VCA become a “one per cent” sales player in Australia, which equates to roughly 10,000 sales per annum. It should sell more than 7000 vehicles in 2019.
“It’s incremental volume for the dealers. [There is] good customer service opportunity for them as well, so we should do it,” he said.
The S60 will come to Australia in entry-level 184kW turbo-petrol T5 form, which is expected to be the biggest seller and the focus of promotion. Also on the way is the 288kW petrol-electric hybrid S60 T8.
New Volvo S60 R-Design exterior
Both will have boosted 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engines, eight-speed automatics and all-wheel drive.
Specification levels will start at Momentum and go through Inscription and R-Design, but the T8 will eventually be offered only as the mildly tuned-up Engineered by Polestar spec. No diesel model is available.
It will be the only passenger car Volvo offers in its line-up in Australia, although the V60 will double its non-SUV range when it launches in September or October.
Keyword: New Volvo S60 to be transparent