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 The Swedish carmaker, controlled by China's Geely, will gradually
introduce web sales and spend more on digital advertising, it said
as it outlined changes to its global marketing strategy on Monday.
"The plan is to have all our car lines in all our markets offered
digitally," Volvo sales chief Alain Visser said in an interview.
Few manufacturers have tried selling directly online. A notable
exception is Tesla <TSLA.O>, whose electric car sales have cut out
traditional dealers, leading to conflict and effective exclusion
from parts of the United States.
But Volvo has assured its 2,000 global dealerships, half of which
are in Europe, that it has no such plans.
"If you say the word e-commerce, initially dealers get nervous,"
Visser said.
"We don't see a car distribution network without dealers in the
foreseeable future," he said, adding that vehicles sold online "will
still pass through the dealer network" for delivery.
Volvo raised its 2014 sales goal in August as it launched a revamped
XC90 crossover, the first vehicle developed under Zhejiang Geely
Holding Group ownership.
With its flagship SUV and other models to follow, Volvo is
ratcheting up the gadgetry and glitz to woo Chinese customers
without losing sight of core attributes including safety and
uncluttered Scandinavian design.
The Swedish carmaker plans to withdraw from all but one motor show
per year in each of three regions - Europe, North America and Asia -
and stage its own global event instead.
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Volvo also said it would not follow rivals into city-centre boutique
dealerships of the kind increasingly used by BMW, Mercedes-Benz
<DAIGn.DE> and Audi <VOWG_p.DE>.
"We're a different brand with limited financial means," Visser said.
"We don't believe in building these big palaces."
Some 80 percent of Volvo customers already shop online for other
goods, the sales chief added, and research suggests many will do the
same for cars in future.
But some analysts such as Stuart Pearson of Exane BNP Paribas remain
skeptical, citing weak orders from experimental online sales of the
BMW's i8 hybrid sports car.
"BMW has tried it in Germany, but they really haven't had a huge
amount of volume," Pearson said. "People still want to go into
dealers."
(Editing by Pravin Char)
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