Cool cars for your Gevalia run
Forbes: The Fastest Cars Under $50K
Forbes.com recently published an article about fun/FAST cars under $50k. The 2013 Volvo S60 R-Design isn’t the very fastest, but at 5.3 seconds 0-60, as far as daily drivers go, my bet is we’re the most stylish and comfortable. And I believe the safest. Just the modern, Scandinavian design alone suggests something bad is under that hood and can handle whatever the road can dish out. Wonder if police get a hard time from their chief for pulling over a fast Volvo?
dan
Posted in S60 R-Design | 2 Comments »Twilight Winners Collect Their Prizes – New S60 R-Designs
Jessica T., of State College, Pa., now owns a little piece of Edward Cullen after winning Volvo’s “Journey to the Wedding” Contest. Thorpe picked up her shiny new Volvo S60 R-Design – the exact car Edward drove in “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” last week at Volvo State College.
Here’s what Jessica had to say about her new car:
“I love my new car! It is so fun and it drives so nicely! My old car was 14-years-old and had 193,000 miles on it, so winning such a sleek, stylish and powerful car was a wonderful Christmas present. I’m so grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime prize of a new, luxury Volvo S60 R-Design. It means so much to me.”
And here’s a news clip from Jessica’s hometown newspaper:
After winning Yahoo’s “Say ‘I Do’ Sweepstakes,” Cherie M. of Hendersonville, Tenn., picked up her new Volvo S60 R-Design at Volvo of Nashville.
Here’s what Cherie had to say about her amazing prize:
“Wow, I am still in shock! I can’t believe I won! I am definitely Team Edward and am so excited I won his car! I love all the movies so far and can’t wait for Breaking Dawn 2 next year. The Volvo S60 R-Design is a beautiful car inside and out, and I can’t wait to drive it!”
Funny how driving a Volvo was once for your parents
Hannah certainly didn’t get enough time, just one weekend, in our S60 R-Design, but it seems we made an impression worth passing along to you guys.
Years ago, pre-www.com time, the only way to get information about products was advertising – that’s what made Ad Men so important. Advertising was king of information distribution. In Volvo world, we used advertising to tell a story about how tough, sporty (well sort of), and reliable a little car from Sweden could be and what it offered America. If you were sparked to learn more you had to visit a Volvo dealer.
Customers usually visited our dealers at least three times before purchasing a car, and there were stages of visits: brochures, fact finding and buying.
- Brochures. Most customers never wanted to talk with salespeople. They would come in, look for our brochure rack, grab what they needed and basically run out.
- Fact finding. This was the funny stage. Wearing tweed jackets, with a yellow writing pad under their arms, they would have a list of questions for a salesperson. Honestly, we called them “Yellow Padders.” They just wanted facts and usually left the dealership shortly there after.
- Then, if we did everything right, they’d come back in to buy.
Volvo’s were not for young people. They were for those who were expecting their first child and wanted a safe car. At that time we had the safest cars being offered, certainly nothing made domestically even came close. And today? Well you know I can not say we have the safest cars but you tell me which brand you would like to trust with your family.
Hannah had fun and I think came away with a much different understanding of what we are and where we are going. Check out why she has a crush on us in the Forbes article below.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/hannahelliott/2011/10/31/i-had-a-weekend-fling-with-a-volvo/
Enjoy a safe weekend.
dan
Posted in S60 R-Design | 7 Comments »Going to the Chapel…in a Volvo S60
I doubt Bram Stoker ever thought his 1897 tale of Dracula would lead to today’s vampire obsession. But, like any good story, he took our worst fears and penned something more gruesome. Maybe he was the Stephen King of his day. Well, a good story never gets buried, destroyed with a wooden stake, killed with Holy water and garlic, or shot with a blessed bullet and a bunch of other really nasty techniques, it just keeps going with each new time period.
Have we a double neck biting contest for you (only for you folks in the U.S.). Here’s our press release and exclusive image. May the best Vampire or Vampirette win.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Going to the Chapel…in a Volvo S60
Volvo’s “Journey to the Wedding” Online Promotions Offer Twilight Saga Fans a Chance to Win Premiere Tickets, a Brazilian Getaway or a Volvo S60 R-Design
Fans can enter Volvo’s Facebook contest for a chance to win tickets to the premiere of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” and can play the online game for the chance to win a Brazilian getaway and Edward’s Volvo S60 R-Design at www.JourneytotheWedding.com
ROCKLEIGH, N.J. (Oct. 12, 2011) – Volvo is inviting Twilight Saga fans to the wedding of the century with two online promotions in conjunction with the release of Summit Entertainment’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1, opening in theaters on November 18.
Beginning October 15, participants can register to play Volvo’s online game, “Journey to the Wedding,” for a chance to win a trip for two to Rio de Janeiro, which includes a stay in the same luxurious house where Edward and Bella spent their honeymoon. The lucky winner will also take home the actual 325 HP Volvo S60 R-Design that Edward drove in the fourth installment of the film franchise. With a perfect marriage of style and substance, Volvo’s S60 R-Design features best-in-class acceleration, performance and fuel efficiency, making it Volvo’s most dynamic and sporty model.
Also starting on October 15, fans are invited to submit photos or drawings of what they would wear to Edward and Bella’s wedding on Volvo’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/VolvocarsUS). The person who submits the entry with the most votes will win two tickets to attend the world premiere of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 in Los Angeles on November 14. Volvo will also provide the winner with two round-trip airline tickets to Los Angeles, two nights of hotel accommodations, and $500 spending money (visit www.facebook.com/VolvocarsUS for official rules and complete details).
“It’s not often wedding guests are the ones to receive the gifts, but one lucky fan will drive away happily ever after in a Volvo S60 R-Design, just like Edward and Bella,” said John Maloney, vice president of marketing and product planning for Volvo Cars of North America. “The Volvo S60 R-Design is the most powerful Volvo ever and safe enough to protect Edward and Bella; and now one Twilight Saga fan will experience the same dynamic driving experience designed around them.”
How Volvo’s “Journey to the Wedding” Game Works
Beginning October 15, players (ages 13 and up) can register at www.JourneytotheWedding.com to play the interactive game. In the game, fans make their way to the wedding of Edward and Bella by completing a series of three challenges. The player who finishes the final challenge in the shortest amount of time will win the game. Volvo will announce the winner on or about November 28.
In addition to the game, fans will want to visit the website’s online photo gallery for photos of Edward and Bella and learn more about Edward’s Volvos, including the Volvo C30, Volvo XC60, and Volvo S60. Fans can also learn more about the game on Volvo’s Facebook page and Twitter account.
Fans who don’t win the online game but still want their own Volvo S60 R-Design can visit a local Volvo retailer or go to www.volvocars.com/us to build their own. Edward’s S60 T6 R-Design is all-wheel drive with an automatic transmission and features Saville Grey metallic exterior, off-black leather interior, 18-inch diamond-cut Xion alloy wheels, sport chassis, active dual Xenon headlights, rear spoiler, climate package, multimedia package, BLIS (Blind Spot Information System) and keyless drive.
The next chapter of “The Twilight Saga” will be released as two separate films with the first of the two – “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” – slated to be released in theatres on November 18, 2011 and the second coming to theatres on November 16, 2012. Academy Award® winner Bill Condon directed both films starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. In “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1”, Bella (Stewart) and Edward (Pattinson), plus those they love, must deal with the chain of consequences brought on by a marriage and honeymoon, and the tumultuous birth of a child… which brings an unforeseen and shocking development for Jacob Black (Lautner). With more of the romance, passion, intrigue and action that made “Twilight”, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” worldwide blockbusters, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1”, based on Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling book series, begins the conclusion of the tale of vampire love, boundless friendship, acceptance, and finding your true self. The project, based on the fourth novel in author Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, is written by Melissa Rosenberg with Wyck Godfrey, Karen Rosenfelt and Stephenie Meyer producing.
About Volvo
Volvo Cars of North America, LLC, (www.volvocars.com/us) is a subsidiary of Volvo Car Corporation of Gothenburg, Sweden. VCNA provides marketing, sales, parts, service, technology and training support to Volvo automobile retailers in the United States, and oversees Volvo operations in Canada. For more information please refer to the VCNA media website at: http://www.volvocars-pr.com, and follow Volvo’s blog at: www.volvoblog.us.
About Summit Entertainment, LLC
Summit Entertainment, LLC is a worldwide theatrical motion picture development, financing, production and distribution studio. The studio handles all aspects of marketing and distribution for both its own internally developed motion pictures as well as acquired pictures. Summit Entertainment, LLC also represents international sales for both its own slate and third party product. Summit Entertainment, LLC releases on average 10 to 12 films annually.
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Posted in Breaking Dawn, contest, S60 R-Design, Twilight | Comments Off
Interesting S60 R-Design forum posting
As I mentioned in other forums…this is a great commuter car for people who love to drive. The handling is great, acceleration is great, stylish and distinctive also. I was never a Volvo fan until I saw the new S60 R-Design. I am 30 years old and I chose this car over BMW, Audi, Lexus, Infiniti. The reasons are simple. The price (Volvo was willing to take over 3k off MSRP), the safe and secure plan (includes everything except tires for 5 years), and 1.9% interest for 72 months. The Lexus IS is getting redesigned sometime next year, the BMW is too much money for what you get, the Infiniti sedan is ugly to me, and the Audi A4 has a joke of an engine. The Audi S4 is superior and in a different class and more expensive. One guy got an S4 at a huge discount (he said 49k), in that case it would be a better deal but still 5k more than what I paid. Volvo has made a statement with this new car and it was loud enough to get a car guy like me, who is out of their age demographic, to choose them.
Nice way to end this week. You all have a great time. BTW apples are in season, at least on the east coast. If you can find them, try some Macoun apples. They don’t keep very well so eat them soon after buying. We love this time of year, baked apples with walnuts and raisins. 
dan
Media Introduction – S60 R-Design
We recently held a U.S. media road and track event with our S60 R-Design. Our driving route took us through Napa, CA and over some wonderful twisting roads back down into the San Joaquin Valley, and then over to Thunder Hill Race Track in Willows, CA.
Randy is our press fleet manager, route course finder and map maker (think Lewis and Clark). His route perfectly showcased the car’s on-road handling, even on fairly rough pavement. Most car companies look for perfectly flat, clean roads to give media a nice smooth ride. What we wanted to demonstrate was how well suited the S60 R-Design is to sporty mountain driving, within reason of course, and give them an opportunity to push it on the race track. There were route sections that probably could have been better paved but we built a suspension to dampen as needed, and not transmit nastiness back to occupants and yet perform like a European sports sedan.
I’ve driven our S60 R (2004-07) on Sport mode and found restroom stops were more frequent than with other Volvo’s I’ve driven. It has a tough, no nonsense sport feel. I took one airborne east of Las Vegas and landed on all four. I did do a little scraping but the suspension took the rapid compression nicely….so did my teeth. While I didn’t get an opportunity to go airborne again in California, the car performed exactly as promised – laid flat in corners and felt like it could be pushed all day long.
For those of you who have never done any event planning, you’ll never know how complicated this can be. James started event planning last year and all was working perfectly until, eight days from receiving our cars at Port Hueneme, CA, he learned our transport ship had boiler problems and was heading to Halifax, NS, Canada, for repairs. “Great!”
Now, James treasures every bit of hair he sports but I think he lost a few more strands from that message. He developed an alternative plan before the email ink was dry. “We’ll get some cars from Retailers.” So that involved four car carrier trucks, pulling car orders, talking to regional staff and checking with our logistics group.
Flash forward four days: The ship is fixed and on it’s way, and should land three days before event day. Yeah, I think more hair was lost. Now we have to reverse our Retailer shipments and go back to the first plan. In the end, the cars arrived the day before the media showed up.
There were two media waves, about 20 per wave, and all went perfectly: no accidents, lost cell phones, note books, sunglasses, iPads/Pods, nothing.
Of course, the track was awesome. I’m not a driver, so for me the best part is getting to drive with a professional. I was in awe sitting co-pilot and watching Bob handle our car, to the 9/10th level.
Turn 5 is like the Cork Screw at Laguna Seca – totally blind, slight up hill, set wheel to right at crest, and pray. There is another way to explain this turn but my mother would be the first to call so I won’t use it. Turn 6 is next with a very fast sweeping left turn. Darn, did that car just lay flat and scoot. Another blind turn and a couple of quick turns, and we were back home.
My turn and Bob walked me through each turn. I was much slower, but really wasn’t trying for speed, just to be smooth. Bob said I drive well (one man’s opinion), but I took the compliment.
A little disclaimer: The S60 R-Design is not a track car, and we’ll never bill it as such, but James wanted to show it wasn’t a slouch to drive at its limit.
So what’s S60 R-Design about? This is one fast (0-60 in 5.5 seconds), performance AWD, road hugging, wonderfully comfortable, hot Swede.
Here is an article about our business goals for S60 R-Design, and what this car means to us: http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2011/08/volvo-s60-r-design-bucks-classic-%e2%80%93-if-boring-image/
Automobile Magazine’s Amy Skogstrom’s good analysis of the S60 R-Design against competitive segment: http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/driven/1108_2012_volvo_s60_t6_awd_r_design_first_drive/index.html
Car and Driver’s K.C. Colwell’s piece is well balanced with pluses and minuses: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/11q3/2012_volvo_s60_r-design-first_drive_review
dan
August 2 – SwedeSpeak – Twitter Chat with Volvo’s S60 R-Design Mgr.
Volvo is going to be starting Twitter chat sessions on a bi-weekly basis called Swede Speak. They will feature a new topic each time. Join us for our second chat on Tuesday, Aug. 2 from 2-3 p.m. EST for a 140 character chit chat with Frank Vacca, Volvo’s S60 R-Design Product Manager.
When we first launched our R’s in ’96 we sold every one we could get. In fact, our allocation of 2,000 cars were gone in two months. I drove an R wagon across the U.S. and played tag with a Beamer heading across New Mexico towards Carlsbad Cavern. But that’s another story. R-Design has become an important niche segment for Volvo.
Frank knows everything about S60 R-Design. How many we expect to sell, what makes it special, how it compares with earlier R’s, how fast, creature comforts, what is our competition – stuff he lives with daily – that is aside from my dumb questions every so often. Frank lives and breaths S60.
We’d love if you joined the discussion and let your fans know too! We will also have some breaking news to share with the audience. Follow along in the conversation through the hashtag, #swedespeak. You can find us on twitter here: www.twitter.com/volvocars_us
dan
