Author: Wang Xuan

Not long ago, I had an interesting conversation with a consultant friend about a car product that completed the entire process from project approval to trial production, but still sought talented individuals to find a clear positioning and target group for their product before its debut.

The reason for these types of products losing their way is the common practice among car companies of using “benchmarking”. To make a product more competitive in a specialized market, benchmarking is the simplest product strategy, and configuring it is the easiest way to think about it. However, products with a barrel effect are not necessarily good products, and sometimes products that have everything because of benchmarking may lose their uniqueness.

The Volvo C40 is one of the few cars I’ve recently driven that hasn’t lost its uniqueness, doesn’t follow the trend, and adheres to its philosophy. Although its product offerings may not be comprehensive, it is very distinctive. Perhaps this is the “emotional value” that a good car can provide me.

How to Heal the Sadness of the Heatwaves?

Leather seats and chrome-plated metal parts are often used by car companies to showcase high-end configurations and materials, but they can prick the skin of drivers on hot summer afternoons. I believe everyone in front of the screen has experienced the feeling of leather seats burning their legs while wearing shorts.

During a test drive of the Volvo C40, the outdoor temperature in Beijing reached a scorching 36 degrees Celsius in the afternoon. However, when I sat in the C40, I experienced a sense of comfort provided by the composite material.

The seat material of the Volvo C40 is composed of Bubuck textile composite material and sustainable material Microtech Vinyl, and is cut by a 3D design, which is woven into shape at once. It has the advantages of good feel, wear resistance, stain resistance, and flame resistance.

Leather used to mean high-end, perhaps this is the “obsession” people had with materials in the past. However, if a material cannot provide the best experience to users, then talk of being high-end becomes meaningless?

Regarding materials, the Japanese people, who take practicality as the core value of car production, have come to a conclusion. Since the 1980s, the highest-end sedans and high-end models in Japan have been equipped with cloth seats, such as the Toyota Century.Entering the 21st century, the selection of materials is no longer only about comfort but also about adding new values. For example, Volvo’s selection of renewable materials and their 100%-Leather Free concept, which adopts two different high-quality and environmentally friendly materials that are strong, scratch-resistant, and have low emissions and odors compared to traditional leather materials. Therefore, users won’t smell the odor of sun-dried leather interiors on hot summer days.

At the same time, you will also notice that the door panels and floor carpets in the C40 are made of 100% renewable materials that are similar to suede, and they are processed in the same color as the body of the car. In the interior of a Volvo car, your sense of experience is vastly different from that of other luxury sedans. Although the public may not see a cabin wrapped in such materials as luxurious, it does not hinder the resonance of Volvo’s concepts with its target users.

Distinctive features are the qualities that a good product should possess, and seeking truth rather than being assimilated by trends is a valuable quality. Similar stories also occurred 70 years ago.

Going back to 1952, Volvo, which had been struggling in the European market for 25 years, decided to expand its business into the North American market. The core issue facing the Volvo team at that time was similar to today’s: should they cater to market trends or stick to themselves. The difference today lies in users’ understanding of materials, while the difference 70 years ago was in the style of the car.

In the 1950s, American cars had three notable features: rocket tail styling, V8 engines, and large body sizes. After some research, Volvo decided to enter the U.S. market with a car model called the Volvo Philip (a very American name), which also had a V8 engine and rocket tail, but was slightly smaller and looked like a scaled-down version of a Cadillac.

However, this car specially designed for the American market never made it to the mainland United States. At that time, the official reason given was due to personnel changes within the company that led to the plan being aborted. But I believe the truth is not that simple: catering to the market is not wrong, but the way of doing so must be considered carefully, and it is not wise to overturn one’s own style to cater to the market.Only one Philip is quietly lying in the Volvo Museum in Gothenburg. Three years later, Volvo fulfilled its dream of entering the United States with the already mature pv444. Four years later, we are all familiar with the story: Volvo invented the three-point safety belt and promoted the technology globally. According to incomplete statistics, the three-point safety belt has saved the lives of over one million people. By creating the “safety” label and refusing to follow the crowd, Volvo gradually found its own path in the luxury market.

Today, Volvo’s obsession with materials remains the same.

Intelligence is no longer a weak point for traditional automakers

In June of last year, Volvo released a new infotainment system, which is also the only brand in the world to integrate a native Android automotive-grade system.

On the C40, we will find that the new infotainment system has built-in ecology, redesigned UI, and new features including Gaode Map, Tencent Ai Quting, Tmall Elf’s car-home interconnection application, and multiple applications in the Huawei App Store. At the same time, the voice system also achieves linkage with the infotainment system.

In plain terms, the advantage of a native Android system is better optimization. In the actual experience process, the smoothness and high voice recognition of the new Volvo C40 infotainment system are indeed impressive. Friends familiar with older Volvo models know that Volvo’s entire product line is vertically designed, and older models only support wired CarPlay, which is not suitable for vertical screen hardware. Therefore, the content projected on the infotainment system can only occupy a part of the screen and the map display is even smaller. However, the infotainment system of the C40 includes Gaode Map, and users can finally get the “full-screen” map experience on Volvo.

At the same time, the Volvo C40 can also perform dual-screen linkage, and the Gaode Map information of the infotainment system can be directly displayed on the dashboard screen, allowing the driver to easily obtain relevant information without looking down.除了地图、音乐这两项用户使用频率最高的应用，沃尔沃 C40 的车机上还内置了华为应用商店，商店中可以下载包括 bilibili 在内的多款软件。不过能够发现的是，部分软件仍为车机特别版。拿 bilibili 举例，在车机的 b 站上我们没有找到搜索功能，视频里也没有选择清晰度的选项。而且受到竖屏影响，b 站的播放画面放到最大也只是下图中的效果。

智能化方面除了车机还有辅助驾驶。沃尔沃 C40 的辅助驾驶开启逻辑更加清晰，此前的沃尔沃在开启辅助驾驶时要选择「限速模式」、「自适应巡航模式」和「领航模式」。限速模式下车辆速度不会高过设定的最高时速，自适应巡航模式默认只开启 ACC，领航模式则是打开整套 L2 系统，这样的操作逻辑已经是比较清晰的了，而新款 C40 在开启辅助驾驶的操作流程上又做了简化。

新款改为一键启动（方向盘左侧控制按键的中键），若想使用领航模式中的转向辅助和车道保持，需要在车机内提前设置，设置一次后续就默认开启，这项改进相当于为辅助驾驶的开启逻辑做了减法。

一直以来，沃尔沃主打的消费群体是家庭用户。当生活重心偏向工作和家庭，对于新鲜科技的关注度和接受程度自然降低，就辅助驾驶系统来说，复杂的开启方式更会将他们劝退。而预设辅助驾驶系统的方式让系统更容易上手，开启后只需要调节车速，如设置定速巡航一样便利。

不难看出，沃尔沃已经 Get 到了中国消费者对智能化的需求，车机端的丰富生态更加贴合年轻消费者的生活方式，对于辅助驾驶系统细节的调整也是对全年段用户的关怀。

小、快、灵的沃尔沃 C40

最后我们来聊聊驾驶体验，我们试驾的沃尔沃 C40 是双电机四驱版本，双电机的综合功率为 300kW，峰值扭矩 660Nm，百公里加速 4.7s。搭载 78 度电池包，满电续航为 530 公里。

The driving experience of C40 on mountain roads can be summed up in three words: small, fast and agile. The small body size is an absolute advantage for handling, and the moderate adjustment of shock absorption can provide enough confidence for drivers on corners. And because the chassis is equipped with a battery, the center of gravity of the whole vehicle is lower, which actually offsets some of the SUV’s weaknesses in terms of handling. With a front-to-rear weight ratio of 50:50 and precise steering, the vehicle performs easily in the bends.

The 4.7s acceleration to 100 km/h speaks for itself. It is already very adequate for SUVs with a more urban orientation. It is worth noting that the throttle tuning of Volvo C40 is not aggressive, which is very friendly to users who have just started using electric vehicles. The power response is also quick enough when you output full throttle.

Many leaders of new forces always mention that the sales of new forces did not come from the saturation of the market, but gradually eroded the market share of traditional car companies. However, one thing we can never ignore is that the personality and human care created under the hardware of traditional luxury brands, which provide emotional value that resonates with users, cannot be achieved simply by benchmarking and piling material.

Of course, luxury brands cannot rely solely on “emotional value” to survive. On Volvo, we can see the changes they have made in response to trends, as well as their unwavering beliefs in responding to trends.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.