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overall sales have declined year-on-year for five consecutive months, with sales in july and august falling by 31% and 23% respectively. cumulative sales from january to august were 100,000 units, down 8% year-on-year.

this is the answer that yu kexin has delivered in the eight months since he took up the post of acting president of volvo greater china sales company. moreover, volvo's sales performance is based on a significant price cut. for example, the terminal discount price of volvo's sales pillar xc60 is close to 160,000 yuan, and the terminal discount price of the main selling models s60 and s90 has also exceeded 120,000 yuan.

as for whether volvo is satisfied with the results it has achieved in the chinese market this year, perhaps yuan xiaolin, president and ceo of volvo car asia pacific, has more say.

however, in the eyes of the outside world, it is an indisputable fact that volvo is going downhill in the chinese market. this is not only reflected in the decline in volvo's overall sales, but also in the new energy sector, where volvo's performance this year has been particularly poor. data shows that from january to august, volvo's cumulative sales of new energy vehicles in the chinese market were only 8,619 units, a year-on-year decline of 13%.

in contrast, volvo's cumulative sales of new energy vehicles in the first eight months are not as high as the monthly sales of a single model of mainstream new car manufacturers. moreover, while the overall sales of new energy vehicles in china have increased year-on-year this year, volvo's sales of new energy vehicles have fallen against the trend, which shows that its new energy products have not been recognized by consumers. in the absence of competitiveness of new energy vehicles, volvo's prospects are further filled with crisis.

in addition to the sharp decline in sales, volvo asia pacific president yuan xiaolin was also criticized by many netizens for his remarks at the chengdu auto show, which put volvo at the forefront of public opinion. it is reported that yuan xiaolin publicly complained about the intelligent voice control function of the car. he gave an example, saying that when a user issues a command "please open the sunroof", the voice system responds and opens the sunroof in about 4 seconds, while the physical button only takes 1 second, "what is the meaning of such a design?" this statement was evaluated by many netizens as a conservative view of the intelligence of the car.

although many articles have appeared online to explain yuan xiaolin's remarks, saying that netizens' comments were somewhat taken out of context. at the same time, some articles also said that yuan xiaolin's original intention was misinterpreted. volvo is definitely not opposed to intelligent voice or other intelligent technology innovations. what he opposes is pseudo-innovation that has no real value to users and is purely for the pursuit of eye-catching effects.

you know, in the era of intelligent cars, the majority of car consumers are young people, and their understanding of luxury cars is not limited to the accumulation of traditional brand concepts. even first-tier luxury brands such as mercedes-benz and bmw will also be complained by young users if they are slow to adopt intelligent cars, not to mention volvo, which has no highlights in terms of intelligent cars. therefore, it is understandable that yuan xiaolin's remarks were criticized by netizens.

of course, volvo is actually conservative about car intelligence. for example, volvo cars ceo luo wenjin once publicly stated that a smart car is still a car after all, not a mobile phone with wheels. so far, what has volvo achieved in terms of intelligence? this question is indeed difficult to answer, after all, volvo's competitiveness in intelligence is far less than that of new car manufacturers.

in addition, although volvo has been telling the story of "safety", in the current era when new energy vehicles have become mainstream, it may be difficult for ordinary consumers to give an answer to where volvo's safety advantages in the new energy field are reflected. and when major car companies all place safety performance in an important position, volvo's safety label has long been unclear.

on the other hand, nio, which has the advantage of battery swapping, and ideal auto, known as the super dad car, have been thriving in the new energy market. it has to be said that in the new energy era, volvo has lost its biggest "capital" to win consumer recognition.

although volvo has been touting its high safety, it has been repeatedly slapped in the face. three years ago, volvo was the number one automaker in the number of recalls. in the past eight months of this year, volvo has already issued two recall notices.

one of them was a recall of 6,608 volvo xc40s due to a software problem that caused the turn signal to not work, unable to provide turn signals to other traffic participants, increasing the risk of accidents. due to the extremely poor sales of xc40, 6,608 units are almost equivalent to its sales for the whole of last year. another was a recall of 1,200 imported xc90s because the fixing bolts of the second-row seat belts were not tightened as required, which could loosen the seat belt fixing bolts when the vehicle was involved in a collision.

final thoughts

volvo is in an awkward situation in china due to the continuous decline in sales and the slow opening of the new energy market. faced with such a situation, does yu kexin, the newly appointed acting president of the greater china sales company, feel that there are many crises? yuan xiaolin's remarks on smart voice have put volvo at the forefront of public opinion. will this cause volvo to fall into a public opinion crisis again?

(this article is originally produced by wenwu chedao new media studio. please indicate the source when reprinting: wenwu chedao. the author of this article is xia mu. this is personal opinion and is for reference only.)