Here are the latest car brands to officially bite the dust: Lincoln, Mercury, Saturn and, not surprisingly, Hummer.
Auto brand-deaths appear to have left Volvo a bit concerned. For years Volvo harped on safety, and pounded home the notion that Volvos lasted forever. Safety is neither a strong nor unique claim. And in a world where cars are a fashion item that new car buyers replace every three years on average, longevity may be irrelevant if not downright insulting to the market.
So, in a vaguely Oldsmobilish way, now Volvo is trying to reposition itself as sexy. Good luck to Volvo. Instead of carving out a new niche, Volvo has leapt to an old, crowded one where the competition is daunting. It will be interesting to see if young hotshots, whom this TV spot obviously targets, will accept Volvo into the club.
If they’re serious about the hot car market, Volvo might be smarter to introduce a new brand. But then, they didn’t ask me.
—Steve Cuno