By Ralph Morton in conversation with Selwyn Cooper, national corporate operations manager, Volvo
FIRST it was big estate cars (along with an all-embracing safety message); then came the huge – and hugely successful XC90 – and now…
…well now Volvo seems to have a product in lots of different places as it moves further and further away from its image of just being an estate car maker.
There’s the attractive C30 Coupe hatchback, particularly in R-Design trim, up through its compact S40 and V50 models and to the compact XC60 SUV. Plus many more models.
And it’s all underpinned by a low emission DRIVe programme that delivers superior fuel economy, low emissions and reduced benefit in kind company car tax.
For a moment, though, let’s just step back in time to the archetypal Volvo driver – the antiques dealer in a Volvo estate: that typifies the small business user Volvo appealed to.
And, increasingly, does so again. “2011 been a great year in corporate sales,” says Selwyn Cooper, Volvo’s national corporate operations manager.
“We’ve tried to focus much more on the smaller business end user. We’re business sales. We’re trying to leave behind the fleet sales tag because we think it can be a barrier to the acceptance of us as a brand by SME firms.”
What’s most encouraging, though, is that Selwyn reckons SME business sales are the future for Volvo – “without question”.
It’s always good to hear that car manufacturers are taking the SME business car sector seriously: usually business car sales fall in the middle and get lost between the retail customer and the bigger fleet sales.
So how is Selwyn and Volvo going to service SME business sales better?
“I have a view that regardless of status if you’re buying through a dealer you need a lot of information. Because the choice you make as a business owner or SME director has consequences for that business, whether it’s the cost of buying, the associated writing down allowances, while if a business car driver is involved, there’s the benefit in kind company car tax to consider.
“Making the information available to those people in our local business markets is a great opportunity for us. They can make the choice they want at a local level. We need to turn our dealers onto this opportunity, which is why we’re investing in them so heavily.”
Attractive new Volvo products in the pipeline
You’ll be wanting to visit your local Volvo business dealer more in the future. There’s lots more product coming says Selwyn with – thankfully – much more intuitive technology. “We have this brand saying ‘designed around you’ – it means putting the driver at the centre of the relationship,” says Selwyn.
“Our design boss Peter Horbury says that if you buy an Apple iPad you know how to use it intuitively – so why shouldn’t cars be like that, too? So you can expect our in-car technology to harmonise with the driver. The business driver’s devices will connect automatically to the car and the internet for example.”
New Volvo V40
Unlike previous V designated cars, the new Volvo V40 is not an estate car.
“The V actually stands for versatility,” explains Selwyn. “So the new Volvo V40 is a stylish five-door that’s low in CO2 emissions thanks to more DRIVe versions, great to drive, well priced and good on whole life costs, which translates into low running costs for a business.
“It will also have all the safety credentials you’d expect in a Volvo which are particularly critical for high mileage business drivers.”
Selwyn says the new Volvo V40 will be launched at the Geneva Motor Show (March 2012) and will give Volvo a competitor to the Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series.
Although Selwyn wouldn’t be drawn on the level of CO2 emissions from the new V40 you can realistically expect the new car to be under 100g/km and possibly below 90g/km.
New Volvo V60 plug-in hybrid diesel
The new Volvo V60 plug-in hybrid diesel arrives in the autumn of 2012. It’s very much the future of business car motoring. But for now it will be slightly esoteric, both in its availability and pricing.
“We’re only making a 1000 this year, and it will cost around £48,000 before government grant but comes with a high specification. That means in the UK we’ll probably see about 100 cars, which will increase in 2013.”
The Volvo V60 has world-first technology reckons Selwyn. For a start there’s CO2 emissions of just 49g/km CO2. That means it will be rated as an ultra low emission car with a benefit in kind company car tax band of just 5%.
Let’s think about that for a minute. At 5% company car tax, the Volvo V60 plug-in hybrid will have a benefit in kind value of £2400 (assuming that £48,000 price tag). For an SME director with a marginal rate of 40% income tax that’s £80 a month. Hmmm, worth considering.
Selwyn says that the new V60 plug-in hybrid will have a range of up to 50km (30 miles) in electric mode, but up to 285hp and 4WD ability with the oomph to dispatch 0-60 in under 9 secs – some stats.
“We’re talking to interested corporate customers who have taken orders on the car already,” confirms Selwyn.
Automatic DRIVe models
More mainstream for business use, and more relevant to many small business, is the introduction of automatic diesel cars with low emission DRIVe technology. “You can order now S60, V60 and V70 and S80 with an automatic gearbox and yet get the same mpg as a manual. In the business car sales community that’s a big advantage in urban areas where people really need that technology. The powershift dual clutch auto system adds £1400 to the manual price of the car.”
All DRIVe auto cars deliver under 120g/km, with prices starting at £25,000 for the Volvo S60 saloon.
Making car finance simpler for small businesses
This is where Volvo looks to be making the greatest strides in altering its business set up towards SME firms.
Instead of having ‘retail’ and ‘business’ sales staff in a Volvo dealership – and how often have you been told the business sales manager is away can you come back later? – Selwyn says that the company is investing a sales success academy that will see staff qualified to answer the questions of both types of customers with no division of labour.
“We will have some fleet specialists, in large urban areas where they might need more bespoke specialist knowledge, but any small business users has a right to expect good advice from a sales consultant. All sales consultants will be versed in both personal and business car acquisition,” explains Selwyn.
“We expect sales consultant to know about all finance issues and whole life costs and tax allowances. It’s not just a case of I don’t understandcontract hire so here’s HP instead.”
It all sounds increasingly good news for small businesses – treated with fairness and courtesy. Along with access to some exciting new products underpinned with low business running costs and low company car taxation.
“A Magma Group survey said business users wanted to be treated in personal way. That’s what we’re planning to do. As a car manufacturer we want to be simple to deal with and provide reliable advice. If we provide that consistently, I’m sure we’ll be seeing more and more small businesses knocking on our door.”
