Since the general environment has made automobile consumption less active than in previous years, the market competition in the first half of the year has entered a white heat. In order to stimulate consumption, the price war is wrapped in a public opinion war, which has almost turned the entire Chinese auto market upside down.
In the face of the rapid switching of the living environment, 2025 is naturally comparable to a catastrophe for many traditional car companies that are accustomed to living a step-by-step life. From Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, etc., to BBA, Volvo and other luxury brands, almost none of them can watch this market change without being moved.
The frequent proposal of new models, new technologies, and new strategies means that in the face of this war of “both superiority and death”, traditional car companies have finally begun to exert their strength. In just a few months, most consumers have truly felt their hindsight from these new atmospheres. But the unfriendliness of the general environment is never temporary.
No matter how strong a company is, in the face of crisis-ridden Chinese car companies, if they want to survive well, they need a complete set of solutions rather than short-term bailouts.
In the past six months, for Volvo, like all other foreign car companies that have kept up with the pace of China’s auto market, the challenges brought about by the great changes in the market have changed almost everything that has landed before, from product definition to the R&D cycle, from user communication to channel maintenance, every link needs to be reorganized urgently.
However, like them, while having a correct attitude, nothing is more effective than showing determination to fight against the menacing Chinese car companies. At this moment, Volvo’s good or bad in the first half of the year is a mirror of self-proof ability. What the final chapter of 2025 will be like needs to be carefully considered by Volvo. The control of the rhythm of new products, the research and judgment of price wars and public opinion wars, or the implementation of other aspects are indispensable.
01The pressure is unabated, and we are always ready
At the beginning of 2025, foreign car companies will say from time to time that with themselveselectrificationThe slowdown in the process, both in China and the redistribution of the strategic focus of the global market will be the highlight of this year.
Before and after the Shanghai Auto Show in April, Toyota, Volkswagen, Nissan and Honda made their positions clear with their new models. The importance of the Chinese market is that they cannot be ignored. At the same time, the BBA’s attitude on all sides is the same.
“In the Chinese market, if you refuse to transform to electrification, it basically means that you will be marginalized.”
For Volvo, which sold 760,000 new cars in the global market last year, it is reasonable to say that as an automobile company with a global perspective, it can use the advantages of the base to retain a certain amount of room for observation of market changes. But so far, since such an argument can be given, I believe Volvo is well aware of the severity of the current environment.
On many occasions, Yu Kexin, president of Volvo Greater China Sales Company, did express that Volvo’s 2025 is very critical. And the official is also emphasizing that compared with its peers, Volvo positions itself as “luxurious”New energyLeader”, then, the subtext of “planning to launch 7 key models, covering multiple routes of fuel, pure electric, and plug-in hybrid” cannot be a slogan.
Now, half a year has passed. In the original plan of Volvo’s 7 new cars, the new XC90, XC60, S90 and EX30CC have all been launched, and the ES90 and XC70 have also taken a photo with the outside world.
It can be said that compared with the slow heat in the past, Volvo has shown a really positive side in choosing to accelerate the new Volvo this year. Not only that, in view of the impact of the continuous increase in operational pressure, Volvo started to optimize its organizational structure on a global scale in the first half of the year, to a large extent to cope with the increasing competitive situation.
In mid-July, Volvo released its global operating data for the first half of the year. Hindered by tariffs and other black swan events, Volvo can use this to explain the setback in its profits, but in the final analysis, it still shows that there are powder kegs hidden in the car market around the world. If you want to seek increment or hold your position, if you don’t look for reasons from yourself, I’m afraid it’s too late.
As for China, for this consideration, I dare to say that Volvo can only deepen further, rather than just pushing a few new cars.
For a long time, aside from the imported car business dominated by XC90 and V90CC, Volvo has focused on the sedan and SUV market in the range of 20~400,000 yuan in China. The core product line of the S60, S90 and XC60 covers almost most of Volvo’s sales sources.
However, since the password for the transformation of the new energy vehicle market has been mastered by Chinese car companies, whether Volvo admits it or not, the combat effectiveness of the original product line still has strong limitations.
To this end, in the first half of this year, most of Volvo’s energy was invested in the pricing game of new models. In other words, in order to eliminate the difference between existing products and China’s intelligent new cars, taking the initiative to join the price war has become Volvo’s top priority in 2025.
But on the other hand, regardless of whether the final result of sorting out the pricing of new cars can be as it wants, it can be said that Volvo in the first half of the year has exhausted the existing means other than products. From this moment on, the war belonging to Volvo must shift from a position dominated by external factors to a frontal battlefield focusing on product innovation.
02XC70, there is no room for loss
Soon, Volvo’s next new car, the XC70, will go on pre-sale next month. From the first half of the year, we can actually see how important this car is.
From the perspective of reorganizing the product pedigree, restarting the XC70 IP has Volvo’s recollection of the past to create market segments. In this era when the XC60 is gradually unable to face many Internet celebrity new cars alone, the XC70 may form a strong product matrix with it, once again bringing new vitality and new topic growth points to Volvo.
Looking around the current market situation, when the XC70 takes super hybrid technology as an anchor to unfold more possibilities for Volvo in the new energy technology path, its main intention is to convey to the market, Volvo’s understanding of cars is not static. At Volvo, “if you are determined to make a difference in China, you have to come up with some products that cater to China’s local needs” should not be a dream lying in PPT.
At present, in the 300,000-level SUV market, we know very well how terrifying the strength of the opponent is. The threat posed by the ideal L6/7/8, Lynk & Co 900, and the new M7 just released by Wenjie is creepy enough. And when the filter added by consumers to luxury brands is gradually removed, there is no need to discuss how big the challenge is for traditional car companies.
Putting it in Volvo, if there is no XC70, it means that the ES90 and EX90 have to bear the pressure brought by it. Obviously, these two products that are too Nordic are not in line with the national conditions of the Chinese market. Here, most of the time, they can only serve as a banner for the brand’s high-end image.
“The XC70 is a new car with a strong Chinese flavor.” In the first half of the year, when this car debuted, we perceived it very clearly. Now, with the arrival of July, you and I don’t have to guess, this taste has become the most user-infectious performance in Volvo’s new car offensive.
In the first half of the year, we also saw Volvo’s entire sales trend in China. As of June, Volvo Cars is in ChinacontinentThe cumulative sales volume reached 70,298 units. As usual, the XC60 takes on almost all of Volvo’s firepower in the SUV market.
However, as the market enters the second half of 2025, under the premise that the general environment cannot improve, even if there is a renewal, it must be extremely difficult for the current XC60 to fully lift up Volvo’s future.
Therefore, at this stage, compared with discussing whether the XC70, which has been out of gear for many years, can still be reborn in China, the pressure it shares for the XC60 is probably the key at present.
In the final analysis, through the overall combing in the first half of this year, Volvo, which is not as large as BBA, has also tried its best to come up with a set of solutions. But in the face of the final results, everything still needs to be further strengthened between Volvo and the Chinese market. Going deep into the hinterland of the price war, or not participating in the public opinion war, are all expedient measures around the outside. “Sell the XC70 well” is not to be missed.