Let's take a look at Volvo's determination to transition to electrification. In addition to being the first luxury car company in the world to announce a comprehensive electrification strategy, Volvo also announced that it will "achieve 50% of pure electric models in 2025, become a 100% pure electric vehicle company in 2030, and become a climate zero-load benchmark enterprise in 2040". The problem is that the determination and strategic layout are there, but there is a core missing: the pure electric platform. As a result, Volvo's electrification can only come from "oil to electricity". The problem is that in China, the inherent intelligent shortcomings of "oil to electricity" and the stubborn diseases such as vehicle safety are obviously unacceptable.
Perhaps Volvo fans are surprised, in 2017, when Yuan Xiaolin was promoted to president and CEO of Volvo Asia Pacific, Volvo officially announced a comprehensive electrification strategy. Why was there only one pure electric vehicle model on sale at that time, XC40 RECHARGE, and what is even stranger is that several models launched in succession are plug-in models, saying that "electric vehicles are the future development direction of Volvo Cars"?
If this is the first step for Volvo to misjudge the Chinese market, the second step is to "exchange price for volume". For example, XC40 RECHARGE, which was overpriced at the beginning of the listing, even if it fell by nearly 70,000 yuan later, it still could not boost sales. The third step is an enigmatic approach to marketing. XC40 RECHARGE listing invited Brilliance Chenyu, C40 RECHARGE debut invited Gao Yuanyuan, and Gao Xiaosong, Huang Jianxiang, Xu Zhiyuan and other literati celebrities interacted, all for the sake of "breaking the circle" two words. But in the end, it was still useless.
As for the last step, it is also the most fatal: slow product updates. The Mercedes-Benz next door has upgraded the "electric first" to the "full electric" strategy, but Volvo did not let the C40 RECHARGE debut in time after seeing the XC40 RECHARGE tepid. Even the third pure electric product, XC60, is expected to enter China next year. If it continues to develop according to this trend, Volvo can only get farther and farther away from second-tier brands such as Hongqi and Cadillac. Perhaps, the time left for Volvo and Yuan Xiaolin is running out.