Volvo is launching a premium leasing programme called ‘Care by Volvo’.
The scheme is regarded as an answer to the increasing trend, particularly amongst premium buyers, to lease a car rather than make an outright purchase.The Swedish brand claims that Care by Volvo will make running a car as simple as owning a mobile phone.
Described as a subscription service, the programme will be based on a pre-negotiated monthly fee, and will provide customers with a new car every 24 months.
Fixed prices
Volvo says that those using the service will not have to worry about traditional extras such as deposits, insurance, taxes, service fees and differing prices based on buyer age and their location. The programme will offer standard rates with no negotiations – research suggests that this is an element of the car-buying process that most puts off customers.
There are also plans to launch a range of digital concierge services to Care by Volvo customers – these could include fuelling and cleaning the car, picking it up for service and delivering online orders to it.
According to Volvo, even full-service leasing does not offer all the elements, such as digital services, planned for the Care by Volvo programme – there will even be a facility to switch cars temporarily.
The new programme is being launched with the new XC40 SUV and Volvo says buyers will be able to share their car with friends using a new digital key technology. This will be offered as standard to Care by Volvo customers.
“In a time where consumers are used to transparent flat fees for all sorts of services, the traditional process of buying and owning a car can be perceived as rather complicated – Care by Volvo changes all of that,” says Volvo president and CEO Håkan Samuelsson.
In the UK, Care by Volvo will be launched alongside the new Volvo XC40 when it arrives in early 2018, but only to customers inside the M25 to start with. The company intends to widen the reach of the programme and expand it to other models, as well as introducing the digital concierge services, over time.
