Reluctant Racers Retire: Volvo Drops the "R" Line

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Volvo will stop selling R-badged performance cars after the last 2007 models are sold, the company has stated. "There was a lot of passion from our owners," executive vice president of sales Doug Speck told Automotive News. "But the investment to make for that side of business, for the return we get, just wasn't good enough."

Speck called the move "a hard decision," but CEO Fredrik Arp made it clear Volvo would still sell performance models, like the C30 T5 and S80 V8.

Arp said the company was working on "the next phase" of performance at Volvo, but there won't be anything immediate.

Volvo's last "R" models were the 300 hp S60R and V70R, which were introduced in 2000. Volvo already stated it would not build an "R" version of the new S80-based V70. Volvo's first "R" car was the 850 R in the mid-1990s.
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2007.volvo.s60.20094734-E.jpg

Well, it isn't exactly the worst news we could have had, but clearly it isn't the greatest either. I would suppose that the S60R and the V70R were never truly mainstream hits, but they were indeed outrageous sleepers that were quite cool.

...I guess the worst part of all of this is that the notion of an S40R or C30R has now gone completely out the window, and that is indeed the saddest part of the whole deal...
 
No! I was looking forward to more R versions too!! Would have been nice to see a C30R.....
 
WTF. Volvo you $%@*&(!!!!! As much money as you charge for your cars and the amount of profit you make you should afford to lose a bit of cash and keep these models. The R models made Volvo EXCITING for christ sakes! Back to being old not exciting granny mobiles for you.
 
Oh well... maybe they weren't selling enough? While I see (and occassionally harrass or get harrassed by) T5s and T6s all the time, I've only seen a new "R" once, so far. Very rare birds.
 
That's too bad. The S60R was a nice car.

I think Volvo's big mis-step with the 'R' line was to introduce a high-end model first to test the waters. Generally speaking, it's going to be the younger buyers that are going to be interested in performance and if Volvo had launched the 'R' range with the S40, they probably would have moved more of them.

Look at how well it's cousin the Mazdaspeed3 has been received. Imagine something like that with an AWD drivetrain and an upscale interior for a similar price as an Audi A3 Quattro.

But instead, they made a very nice car that didn't appeal to many traditional Volvo buyers and was too big and too expensive for someone who wanted a high performance car luxury car and didn't want something obvious and trendy like a BMW/Audi/Infinti.


M
 
Oh well. The automotive world will be just that little bit duller.
 
gt4 has the T6 I believe, definitely not the R version in any case, well its a good thing the Volvo has the C30 going for it because regardless of how exciting the rest of the line up is, it still looks boring without the R
 
-> I really like the Volvo R-series (especially the V70R) since it was debuted, now Volvo is getting rid of that. Too bad, Volvo's will suck even more from this point on. :indiff:

-> They've should made the R as an extremely limited model (ie. 500/yr.). So Ford PAG won't suffer as much as they currently did. :(
 
That is definitely a shame. Not that the R cars had any real impact on Volvo's sales or reputation, one way or the other, but it was a bit of a concession to those who liked Volvo, but wanted something a little less staid. Strange timing, though, considering their new campaign for the S80 V8. They may be dropping the sub-brand, but I'm sure they'll start over if the C30 becomes popular enough.
 

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