Volvo V40 CC D4 vs Mercedes GLA 200 CDi

Premium compact SUVs are catching on. Many want the versatility that they offer combined with a little class, at the expense of value for money. Still the prestige of the badge is worth it, they tell me. These two were put head to head in the NZ Autocar magazine, so what did they find. First to summarise the combatants.

V40 Cross Country D4. NZ$63,000. 2L 4 cyl diesel, 6 speed auto.

GLA 200 CDi

Volvo Worldwide Sales By Model : 2000-13

Volvo have put much into making their cars as safe as possible. They were also known as making boxy looking cars. They have kept with the safety and moved toward more rounded, stylish vehicles. Has it worked? Sales over this period have not moved much while the German competition has.

A major reason for this is Volvo didn't get much penetration in China. It is now fixing that quickly with new

Volvo Sales: 2011

Just as Tata's purchase of JLR has been a success, Geely's ownership of Volvo is doing something similar for Volvo. So how did it go for the Swedish car maker in 2011?

Total sales: 449,255 (373525 2010, +20.3% increase).

Top 10 markets
(2010 in brackets):

USA 67,300 (54,000)
Sweden 58,500 (52,900)
China 47,100 (30,500)
Germany 33,200 (25,200)
UK 32,300 (37,900)
Belgium 20,300 (17,600)
Russia

Nedcar Production History: 1995-2010

Below is an article about Dutch car plant Nedcar in Born. To see the problem, production figures give it away. When the plant was shared, production volume made it viable. Now down to one brand and possibly one model, it would never pay. To show what I mean, production figures for the plant when Mitsubishi joined production:





Yr
Total
Mitsub
Volvo
smart


95
100,400

X3 vs Q5 vs XC60 vs Freelander

For the May 2009 issue, NZ Autocar put these Euro SUVs head to head to find the best. This is how they ranked them:

Fourth: The biggest selling of them, the BMW X3 came dead last, easily. It was considered, too expensive, too small and ugly. Why would the X3 be so popular then? People buy a badge. They get ripped off but hey, a fool and his money is soon parted.

Third: The rest were closer but