Volvo ends sale of saloon and estate cars in UK
Volvo will cheerily sell you a handsome, well-made SUV going forward. A cool wagon not so much
It’s a sad day indeed when Volvo, once the ultimate purveyor of steadfastly practical wagons, decides it’s not worth the effort of offering saloon or estate cars in the UK. Especially off the back of what it described as a ‘solid’ second quarter. But the warning signs have been looming for a while: the S90 had already disappeared from UK showrooms - now the firm has today confirmed that the S60 saloon, the V60 and V90 estates will follow it into the sunset.
“We continue to rapidly transform our product offer, which means not only moving towards full electrification, but also shifting to new platforms and technologies across all our cars. We will naturally need to evolve and consolidate our line-up as we prioritise fully electric cars and make this technological transition," noted an official statement.
"As a result, we have removed further models from the UK line-up. These include the S60, V60 and V90. Demand for our existing SUV line-up continues to grow, while interest in our forthcoming fully electric EX30 and EX90 models is strong. Meanwhile, appetite for our saloon and estate models has fallen to very low levels in the UK, which has led to our decision to remove these models from sale in the UK.”
So it’s the market what’s done it, guv’nor. Well, yes and no. Volvo is blaming the market - and the shifting sands of buyer preference is well documented and hard to argue - but there is hardly any question that the firm’s non-SUVs have suffered for its (understandable) investment elsewhere. Had the S60 or V60 been made exceptionally good to look at and drive, Volvo would likely have sold more of them. It did not and they were not. Still, for anyone with a lingering affection for a liveried 850 or tidy-looking T5 R - which is most of us, right? - what an ignominious, fizzle-out way to end an era…
I planned to consolidate a fun car + estate workhorse into a new fast estate (I really like them). My other half was not having it - "there's no way I'm going to be seen driving that", so we've ended up with a fast SUV instead, even though I am not keen at all.
Spoken with a few friends and they have had similar conversations at home. In my sample size of about 5, estates seem to have a massive image problem if you're not a middle aged man.
Which is a shame, because they make a lot of sense.
I recently opted to sit and wait in a main dealer on a Saturday morning while my wife's car was being serviced. While I was sitting there, at least 3 prospective customers walked in and expressed an interest in one of the hatchback models. In every case, the sales staff steered them very heavily towards the SUV equivalents.
If this is happening everywhere (maybe the margins are better on the SUVs?) then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I'm sad about Volvo's decision. I prefer a good estate car myself, but I appreciate they're not for everyone. Everyone is different though and the removal of choice is concerning.
I recently opted to sit and wait in a main dealer on a Saturday morning while my wife's car was being serviced. While I was sitting there, at least 3 prospective customers walked in and expressed an interest in one of the hatchback models. In every case, the sales staff steered them very heavily towards the SUV equivalents.
If this is happening everywhere (maybe the margins are better on the SUVs?) then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I'm sad about Volvo's decision. I prefer a good estate car myself, but I appreciate they're not for everyone. Everyone is different though and the removal of choice is concerning.
Is it customer preference or just that manufacturers can cut costs by ditching anything non-suv, use platform sharing and then just use the options list to load up the marketplace?
I prefer an estate, I’ve got an estate although I drive a VAG group 4x4 for work.
Yes the SUV does things that a saloon or estate can’t but the same is true the other way round, I’ve never really felt comfortable hustling the 4x4 along b roads to be fair
Fashion sells and SUVs have been the ‘non-car person’ choice for a long time. And before anybody gets cross I know ‘car people’ like them too! But the vast majority of car buyers aren’t bothered about them in the way PH readers are. Hopefully like many fashions it’s not forever..
I planned to consolidate a fun car + estate workhorse into a new fast estate (I really like them). My other half was not having it - "there's no way I'm going to be seen driving that", so we've ended up with a fast SUV instead, even though I am not keen at all.
Spoken with a few friends and they have had similar conversations at home. In my sample size of about 5, estates seem to have a massive image problem if you're not a middle aged man.
Which is a shame, because they make a lot of sense.
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