Volvo’s new image combines simple luxury with topnotch safety features

Volvo, the Swedish automobile brand, has always been associated with dependability and security. In fact, most Volvo patriots praise the brand not only for it's great value for your money but also for the superior safety features each Volvo car is equipped with. However, Volvo recently expressed its move to move beyond this "safe" image and pursue a broader, bolder, and more luxurious.

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., one of the ten biggest leaders in the car industry in China, was the one who bought Volvo from Ford Motor. Co. for around $1.5 billion. Volvo's new CEO, Stefan Jacoby, was the one who started the investigation about Volvo's reputation on good safety features becoming obsolete with all the competitors upgrading their safety advancements. Therefore, the image shift will focus on upgrading and combining comfort elements with luxury. The new image shift aims to compete with luxury cars such as the Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz, the BMW AG, and Volkswagen AG's Audi.

With this new image, Volvo pushes to win more Chinese consumers and increase their sales this year to 50,000 cars, which is almost a 60% increase. Volvo aims to sell up to 200,000 cars by 2015 by reaching out to those consumers who want a touch of luxury in their cars and still get top-notch safety measures with new features such as the recently introduced S60 sedan technology that acts a warning device for potential pedestrian impact. Soon, the Swedish brand might also introduce an automatic braking system for animals on the road.