Volvo Kills U.S. V50 En Route To Smaller Lineup

By Nelson Ireson

Nelson Ireson

Senior Editor BIO

Nelson is a Senior Editor at High Gear Media focusing on reviewing cars and covering the hottest topics in luxury and performance cars, car culture... More

LATEST ARTICLE
Forza Motorsport 5 Coming To Xbox One: Video
Like it or not, there's a new Xbox on the way, the Xbox One. Apart from the impressive new stats... Read More

• #3LEADERBOARD RANK
• 6341ARTICLES CONTRIBUTED
• 229COMMENTS POSTED

2 1,294 views Jan 27, 2011

Follow Nelson

Add to circle

2011 Volvo V50

Making your way in the car world today takes everything you've got, and Volvo is giving its all by taking away: the V50 will be discontinued, according to Volvo's U.S. operations chief Doug Speck. That's just the beginning, though: more models will fall as Volvo tightens its focus in a bid to boost sales.

The news is, perhaps, unsurprising given the American appetite for crossovers instead of wagons. A recent resurgence in wagons, primarily among luxury marques and driven in part by fuel-economy concerns apparently isn't part of Volvo's model, likely due to volume limitations on the segment.

So how bad are things for Volvo in America? In 2010, Volvo sold just 38 percent of its 2004 all-time high here. That's a 62 percent decline in just six years. Things aren't good.

No timeline has been released for the end of the V50, as Speck wants to get the word to Volvo's dealer network before going public. Likewise, the next models to get the axe remain unknown, though with the new S60 and V60 (including a hybrid version) at the forefront of the brand's new face, those models are certainly safe.

Volvo is targeting a "double-digit" rise in sales for 2011 on the back of the reduced model count and a bump in advertising spending.

[Bloomberg]