Volvo thanks the Germans, then gives them a slap: video

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By Tim Beissmann | September 23rd, 2011

Three months ago, Volvo was named the number one vehicle manufacturer for owner satisfaction in Germany by J.D. Power and Associates.

The top ranking – which placed the Swedish brand ahead of Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW and a number of other local carmakers – was considered a massive achievement by everyone at the brand.

The news may have slipped under the radar internationally, but three months on, Volvo wants to make sure the world knows that it took on the Germans on their own turf and walked away with the prize.

The clip is perhaps a recreation of the J.D. Power award ceremony, or at least what was going through Volvo President and CEO Stefan Jacoby’s head as he walked to the stage to accept the prize, slapping the Germans across the face along the way.

According to the results of the satisfaction study, Volvo performed particularly well in the vehicle appeal measure. Despite the overall top ranking, no individual Volvo model ranked highest for vehicle satisfaction in its segment. Mercedes-Benz had three category wins, while Mazda had two.

What do you think of the clip? Is Volvo a bad winner, or simply poking its tongue out and stirring the rivalry? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Shak

I dont recall seeing any slappage in the clip. The title and the article make it out as if some Germans got slapped…i was looking forward to that.
Ques

What about outside Germany.. USA, Australia??
Desig

Where is Lexus?
nickdl

Well Porsche will be happy that it at least beat Nissan.
save it for the track

Hey look Dacia Logan number 2 in small car section!!

Urabus

Yes that’ll give James May the fizz!

mark

i dont know what the big deal is the germans have been helping manufactures around the world for decades the one thing that supprises me is to see mazda up their

mmmmm

you obviously never owned a mazda.
Mazda owners usually LOVE their cars.
(YES I am biased – big time)

AndyGF

German real estate agents have to drive something…

Bo

Is it like Australian counterparts are driving BMW …?

AndyGF

Only because they make more money than you?

Bo

I really don’t understand how my comment led you to post such a comment towards me? I merely posted an opinion from what I’ve experienced in my life.

AndyGF

Oh, Im sorry. I thought you were insinuating that australian estate agents drive BMWs?

Which to me is not really the same thing because a Volvo generally speaking is cheaper than a BMW, hence I asked the question; is it only because they make more money than you? As a reasoning behind that you think they drive BMWs?

I did not mean to offend you.

AndyGF

And another thing, this is true of all surveys…

Expectation plays a big role in they type of person that would (a) take part in one of these surveys (b) give any particular manufacturer a good rap.

For example; if you had to ask the Sheik of Persia, he would tell you that his Maybach is a piece of garbage, but he also would never take a survey.

But ask a pensioner who just traded his ’88 car-rolla how good his volvo is, and he will tell you its capt. KIRK amazing! And he picks up all the chicks in the retirement village with it, so he would love to take the survey and tell you how Naughty his is with it?

The only thing a survey shows, is how “SURPRISED” they were with their car? Nothing else…

Peter

hmmm, maybe for cheap cars, but I dont think so for premiums. I mean, you dont go out and buy a volvo without looking at comparable cars, then say “gee, I thought this would be rubbish, how surprised I am that it is good! Arent I lucky that I didnt buy the audi for the same price?”
Volvo owners do tend to be pretty vocal about how good their car is though, which probably comes from people being surprised that they bought one, and that might influence why they participate. And that would be a relatively educated guess, I’ve owned 6 (and I’m not a pensioner)

AndyGF

You make a good point peter…

But I dont think so; Very few premium car buyers actually do go and shop around for the car they want. They have that little bit extra money in the pocket so they can be as discerning as they like and buy on whims/desire alone.

Whereas the cheaper car buyers tend to hunt for deals, compare cars, ect. Until they make up their minds. So when the ownership experience proves positive, they are more likely to want to tell people about it, and in my mind, therefore more likely to answer surveys.

Volvo’s are not bad cars, so dont get me wrong, im not being critical of them per se. But I dont think they carry with them the true premium status of some of the cars near them on that survey?

Peter

I think that your first suggestion was that someone trading out of a 20 year old corolla would be amazed at how good a volvo was in comparison, and be vocal about that. I disagreed with that. I think your second is that cheaper car buyers are more likely to want to tell people how good a deal that they got. I dont really agree with that either. Overseas there is very little price difference between the volvos and the bimmers etc. True the volvo is not as premium a brand as benz etc, but it isnt as though they are bargain basement in comparison, and (eg) benz isnt really a premium brand when you are looking at the c class/a class. Further, you need only look at the various Jaguar forums to see how enthusiastic the owners are for what is a true premium brand. It also scored at the top of the JD Power survey in the US, I think. Jaguar, in common with volvo, has been a pretty maligned brand in the past for various reasons, so the owners are keen to share the positives. And that is a pretty educated guess as well, I have for the past 3 years driven an XF, which I bought to replace an s60R.

AndyGF

I hear you, and yes I am making two statements…

Where you are wrong is that a person who wants a BMW and afford a BMW almost always does buy a BMW, with very few exceptions…

Whereas a person who wants to buy a Volvo, will more likely shop around than a person who wants the BMW, for a variety of different reasons (ie: they want to be different to their peers, as a purely hypothetical example).

If you look at the brand cachets too;
> The volvo owner typically has a family, wants to do the best they can to be safe, tends to be more considerate and think about things more, cautious maybe?
> The BMW driver choose a BMW because they want the best driving car money can buy. Other factors are barely even considered. (thats not the typical volvo owner, thats for sure)

Im being very stereotypical here, but thats my thinking. As good as a volvos safety features are, and how they are half the price of a 335i for the same power, or whatever, I would never replace the driving dynamics of my BMW. (ok, never is a very long time, but in the foreseeable future…)

Its that family man volvo stereotype that makes them IMHO more likely to answer the survey, and give it a super result (two thumbs up) too when they are happy with their purchase? So I stand by both of my statements, they are surprisingly happy with their purchase. Does not mean anything else…

Ample Parking

Come on all of you Holden-Daewoo-Chevrolet lovers!

Tell us what you think about your favourite cars sitting dead last on the list. Ze Germans don’t seem very satisfied with them…

You seem to love quoting these kind of surveys… at least the one or 2 out there that appear suit your arguments.

Roadtard

Commodore would get Chev up the list. Ze Germans like a RWD sedan.

Phil

Incorrect Roadtard.

Germans had the Commodore, it was called Opel Omega. Over the years, sales got slower and slower (a familiar Commodore trait) and it was taken out of production.

Bangel

Interesting same result for chevy/daewoo as the UK bottom .

CA magazine cans the whole range in the uk , especially the crude .
yo

true that.. i dont know whats so good about commodores.

filippo

Indeed, those chevrolet numbers are low, especially considering the buyers’ expectations can’t have been very high to begin with.
hehe

Mini got ranked to high up?? Do they know how unreliable that car is? Wait.. most of the mini drivers are women. They wont know right from left anyway LOL

Jeff

Clearly you know very little about cars and it appears also Woman. I guess you are either alone in life or I bet your poor wife or partner wishes she wasn’t stuck with you.

F1MotoGP

Germany maybe satisfied but still not buying many Volvo’s

May car sales in Germany
Volvo 2868 best Volvo S/V60 1014
Audi 27017, best Audi A4 5959
BMW 24514, best BMW 3 series 6553
Mercedes 25272, best Mercedes C class 8496
VW 67516, best Golf 25606, Passat 10075

Source: KBA Germany

F1MotoGP

Just find some interesting data from ADAC 2010 Volvo was the 17th worst car in middle class category for breakdown.
Best BMW X3 and worst Opel Vectra. (22 car in that category)