Volvo UK plans to continue giving people freedom – freedom to try out its cars without any sales pressure at all. The Swedish car company has been running its Freedom events for the past two years.
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Customers can go along to special venues such as country houses or proving grounds, to test the latest models without a salesman in sight.
Sales and networks director Nick Connor said: “The events have proved very popular and people feel more at ease if they are not being put under any pressure. Of course, we do follow up leads and pass them on to dealers.”
Freedom events are run by Volvo UK without any dealer involvement. Connor added: “It gives us the opportunity to show what our cars can do, particularly when we organise off-road events.”
These give the company the chance to show off the capability of vehicles such as the all-new XC70 AWD, its 4×4 crossover vehicle.
Connor said: “There is a niche for these vehicles, for people who do not want big off-roaders but still require the capability to access muddy fields or negotiate difficult tracks. The Freedom events mean we can show potential customers just how capable these cars are.”
The new XC70 AWD is available from September with prices starting at GBP31,035. Volvo UK expects to sell around 2,500 a year in addition to 7,000 V70s to reinforce its dominance of the large estate car market.
The XC70 is powered by Volvo’s naturally aspirated 3.2-litre straight six-cylinder petrol engine – designed in Sweden and built in Bridgend in Wales – and its second generation 2.4-litre five-cylinder D5 turbo diesel engine.
All road ability is a key XC characteristic and Volvo’s engineers and designers have paid particular attention to ground clearance and wading depth as well as ramp, approach and departure angles. With a ride height 74 mm (with 2 occupants) higher than the new Volvo V70 estate, the XC70 has an impressive wading depth of 300 mm and an effective ground clearance of 210 mm. Also, with ramp angles of 19.2° approach, 19.8° breakover and 24° departure, the new XC70 betters the outgoing model (16°, 18° and 20° respectively) in all three areas.
The new Volvo V70, being introduced at the same time, is now based on the larger S80 platform to provide more usable space.
