Posted on 03/12/2010 1:52:53 PM PST by WesternCulture
Sweden's Market Court (Marknadsdomstolen) has ruled that Volvo Car's marketing of its XC60 vehicle as the "safest in the world" is misleading and lacks supporting evidence.
"Volvo has not presented any proof at all which verifies or even indicates that the XC60 is the safest in the world. Volvo's claim is a general one and clearly lacks substantiation," the court said in its ruling on a case brought by Japanese firm Toyota.
Volvo has been warned that it will incur a fine of one million kronor ($140,000) if it does not desist from making the claims.
The court based its judgement of the firm's marketing on the message conveyed to the average consumer, which according to Swedish law has to be based on credible verifiable claims.
The case dates to a marketing campaign launched in the beginning of 2009. Some of the advertisements - in print, television and internet sources - forwarded various claims pertaining to the XC60's security or safety characteristics.
Some of the slogans used in the campaign included "...in other words - the safest in the world," and "the most fuel-efficient in its class - the safest in the world."
As a result of Volvo's claims, rival car company Toyota reported the matter to the Market Court. Volvo has been ordered to pay Toyota's court costs of 1.035 million kronor.
It’s safe because it’s boxy!
We prefer SAAB’s, and have safety stories to tell that support our desire to keep SAAB’s as long as we drive.
I think 0bama’s limo is probably the safest car in the world, but it’s not a production car.
Did Toyota sue over this? If they did, I don’t feel so sorry for them any more.
I fail to see how the Japanese car industry ever could constitute a severe threat to the quality car manufacturers of Europe.
Perhaps SAAB will go under, but I doubt Japan ever will be able to seriously challenge makes like Volvo, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Porsche, Ferrari, Aston Martin, BMW etc.
- Nice reading those words, being a person from Sweden who grew up in a SAAB family.
I certainly don’t agree with journalists and other “experts” who claim GM meant disaster to SAAB, but perhaps GM failed to realize the true potential of the company.
Anyhow, SAAB needs to cooperate closely with a large car manufacturer in order to stay alive. There’s such a magnificent engineering competence and pioneering spirit in that little, brave firm..
Well we know that Toyota doesn’t make the safest car in the world!
We have owned Volvo cars for over ten years. They are very safe.
We were smack dab in the middle of a five car accident and we all walked away from it without a scratch. I wouldn’t put the lives of my family in the hands of any other car manufacturer.
Volvo is awesome!
“I fail to see how the Japanese car industry ever could constitute a severe threat to the quality car manufacturers of Europe.”
I take it your bias has never let you drive a Japanese car. I have owned a number of vehicles and without question the Japs have excellent cars. The big difference is that the Japs don’t go around bragging about it and sticking their nose in the air. This goes for motorcycles as well.
- It has nothing to with bias.
A friend of mine died in a Japanese car although driving "55" on an average road an average autumn day. No ice or bad tires involved.
A close relative of mine was seconds away from such a fate driving a 5 year old, well maintained, Japanese car which all of a sudden had a severe brake failure and simultaneously a total gearbox breakdown at moderate speed on a short journey on the highway between the main Gothenburg airport and the city itself.
How come so few people die in Volvos, BMWs and Audis?
Among people I've known (and I'm 40 years old), no one has ever died in a BMW, despite the fact that many people here in Sweden and other parts of Europe where I have acquaints drive beamers and these cars obviously attract young (male) drivers who tend to overestimate themselves.
Toyota, please stay out of my life..
“How come so few people die in Volvos, BMWs and Audis?”
I have never seen any data to suggest that. Where do you get your data? I have known people to die in Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, and other so-called “safe” cars.
- Admittedly, I can't prove that a given Volvo is a safer car than a comparable Toyota.
But, on the other hand, I've never heard of anyone who've died in a European quality/premium car (like Volvo, BMW etc).
For some reason, I often hear of people who've lost their lives driving/traveling around in Japanese cars. Since 15 years ago or so, I've been asking people telling me such stories from their own personal background what kind of car brand was involved. So far, BMW, Audi, Volvo or Mercedes has never been mentioned.
If you ask me, these two sites speak pretty much for themselves:
“Where do you get your data?”
I have heard of people dying in Euopean cars. I think the difference is primarily that those that buy such expensive cars are more likely to not drive like an idiot.
Interesting. Seems that around here over the years, if you want to kill a high school kid, buy him or her a BMW. I guess that is why real data is better than "nobody I know..."
“Aston Martin is a premium car and can only be compared with Maybachs and some Mercedes and BMW series.”
- In Europe, “premium cars” are vehicles like SAABs, BMWs, Audis, Volvos etc. Maybachs and the most expensive Mercedes’s, Bentleys and such cars are referred to as “luxury cars”. The vast majority of Europeans drive Fiats, Opels, Fords, Peugeogts etc. In some corners of Europe, like the richest parts of Germany, “premium” cars are average cars so to say. But Switzerland, Bavaria, Hamburg, Sweden and Luxembourg really constitute exceptions.
When it comes to safety, no court could convince me concerning the subject. They are lawyers, not experts on car safety.
Folksam, a Swedish insurance company that does a lot of research into this matter usually gives very high credits to Toyota models, but there are clear exceptions. I've read their reports for years on and from what I can tell they view SAAB as the safest make based on examinations of real, actual road accidents. Audi and Volvo are also ranked high.
But, naturally, their statistics and conclusions are arrived at from Swedish circumstances which differ from those of, say California or Sicily, where there, to begin with, seldom are snow and ice on the roads and so on.
Volvo is no longer a European vehicle — it’s chinese...
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