Volvo Chattanooga - Awards and accolades for Volvo models

The Volvo XC60 was named 2010 International Truck of the Year today by the International Car of they Year (ICOTY) jury. The Volvo XC60 was named 2010 International Truck of the Year by the International Car of the Year (ICOTY) jury on December 2. The award was given to Doug Speck, President and CEO of Volvo Cars of North America, LLC at the Volvo display at the 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show. The XC60 was chosen over 10 new crossovers, SUVs and trucks by a distinguished panel of top automotive journalists.

"This ties a very pretty bow around what's been a truly amazing year for Volvo," commented Speck. "The XC60 has not only been recognized by the media but it's been extremely well received by our customers."

The 2010 XC60 has helped VCNA earn six consecutive months of year-over-year sales increases since June.

The XC60 was chosen the winner from a panel of 19 automotive media from around the U.S. and Canada representing top newspapers, magazines and websites. The jurors must consider the ICOTY mission of "honoring vehicles that reflect an emotional connection between car and consumer lifestyles" when making their nominations.

"The ICOTY awards are not centered on power and performance," said Courtney Caldwell, ICOTY's creator and executive producer. "It's about how cars reflect our personalities, lifestyles and self image, an attitude most consumers identify with."

"This is one of the most prestigious car awards in the world and we feel very proud to receive it for our best-selling XC60", said Stephen Odell, President and CEO Volvo Car Corporation.

Once approved by the ICOTY nominating committee, the awards jury then bases their decision on a number of important criteria: The vehicle must be new or substantially revised, it must be offered for sale to the general public by the judging deadline of November 16, 2009, and may not have been previously considered for the ICOTY Awards.

The International Truck of the Year award marks the 20th accolade the Volvo XC60 has received since sales began in Europe in late 2008. The XC60 is the first vehicle to offer City Safety as standard equipment. This unique Volvo technology can help the driver avoid frontal collisions at low speed. If the driver is about to drive into the rear of a vehicle and does not react in time, the XC60 will apply the brakes by itself.

Women’s World magazine named its 2010 “Family Car of the Year", and it’s no surprise that it was the Volvo XC60.The first-ever Women’s World Car of the Year awards have been announced from London. The supreme winner, the car that received the greatest number of votes, is the Jaguar XF.

Over the past year eight women motoring writers from around the world have tested 21 cars from the short list and the Jaguar XF was the clear winner, edging out the Volvo XC and the VW Golf diesel, in that order.

That a luxury car has won the supreme award in the Women’s World Car of the Year is an unexpected result given the ubiquitous “shopping basket’ is what many in the car industry consider to be a “woman’s” car. But judges clearly considered the Jaguar XF to be well-constructed, competent, comfortable, a combination of sport and luxury and ideal for women.

Judges are women motoring and published writers from around the world. Chief Judge, Sandy Myhre from New Zealand, says a woman’s voice in the car industry and via the media is hard to find.

“We searched for quite a while to gather together women motoring writers who could qualify to vote for this award and it wasn’t easy because female motor journalists aren’t exactly thick on the ground.

“In the end we have eight judges from around the world whose work is of the highest calibre and who are all published writers. “We intend to increase the number of women on the judging panel in 2010 and beyond.’

The awards were conceived in November last year and stemmed largely from the fact the USA-based World Car of the Year judging panel did not have a single woman judge in 2007. Indeed, the majority of car awards around the world are decided by a vast majority of men yet statistically women will make the final decision in all car purchases in as much as 85% of all sales.

Judging criteria represented the known “shopping list’ of women car buyers. This included storage spaces, dashboard friendliness, child friendliness, aesthetic appeal and driveability. There wasn’t the strict requirement to ascertain 0-100 in so many seconds or the Newton metres of torque (horsepower) but judges did, nonetheless, decide how well the car drove. The car’s “sex appeal’ was also considered.

Since model specification can differ between countries the decision was made for judges to also consider the overall model range in their voting, rather than one specific model.

Cars that qualified had to be sold in at least 10-countries world-wide and available to the marketplace from between September 2008 and September 2009. A shortlist of 21 cars was decided early this year.

Judging was by secret ballot and votes were audited by international accountancy practice, Grant Thornton, from their Auckland, New Zealand, offices. None of the judges knew each other’s scores. Grant Thornton senior partner, Paul McCormick, says when he received the voting forms his preconceptions about the possible result were proven inaccurate.

“I assumed a woman would inevitably place higher importance on characteristics such as value for money and child friendliness. “As the voting forms were received it soon became evident that factors such as sex appeal and carbon footprint were assessed more critically and were awarded relatively low scores compared to some other categories.

“It is also interesting to note that driveability and comfort rated the highest scores overall.’ Paul McCormick also says voting in some categories was particularly close.

“The race for the Sportscar award, for instance, and which was eventually awarded to the Audi TTS, changed several times as votes were received and it was exciting and surprising to see the significant effect each judge had on the final outcome.’

Certificates will be awarded to individual category winners and to the supreme winner early in 2010. The certificates have been designed by Bob Child of graphic design company Peartree Studios in Colerne, Somerset, England.

The feminine graphic gracing the certificates was designed by artist and landscape architect, Trish Menzies, of Queensland in Australia. The website is the design product of Neone, Auckland, New Zealand.

The supreme winner trophy has been designed and manufactured in South Africa.

Sandy Myhre says the surprising result sends a message to car manufacturers, to car dealers and to the advertising world. “The primary objective of these awards is to educate.

“Overall the most exciting thing for us as judges from various countries around the world is that for the first time and collectively we have had our own say in our own way as to what cars we are impressed with.’

She said judges don’t all know each other and the hope is to meet together at the presentation of the supreme awards.

“It would certainly create history to have women-only motoring writers together at the one time!’

To determine crashworthiness — how well a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash — the Institute rates vehicles good, acceptable, marginal, or poor based on performance in high-speed front and side crash tests, a rollover test, plus evaluations of seat/head restraints for protection against neck injuries in rear impacts. To earn Top Safety Pick for 2010 a vehicle must have good ratings in all four Institute tests. In addition, the winning vehicles must offer electronic stability control

To determine crashworthiness — how well a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash — the Institute rates vehicles good, acceptable, marginal, or poor based on performance in high-speed front and side crash tests, a rollover test, plus evaluations of seat/head restraints for protection against neck injuries in rear impacts. To earn Top Safety Pick for 2010 a vehicle must have good ratings in all four Institute tests. In addition, the winning vehicles must offer electronic stability control

To determine crashworthiness — how well a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash — the Institute rates vehicles good, acceptable, marginal, or poor based on performance in high-speed front and side crash tests, a rollover test, plus evaluations of seat/head restraints for protection against neck injuries in rear impacts. To earn Top Safety Pick for 2010 a vehicle must have good ratings in all four Institute tests. In addition, the winning vehicles must offer electronic stability control

To determine crashworthiness — how well a vehicle protects its occupants in a crash — the Institute rates vehicles good, acceptable, marginal, or poor based on performance in high-speed front and side crash tests, a rollover test, plus evaluations of seat/head restraints for protection against neck injuries in rear impacts. To earn Top Safety Pick for 2010 a vehicle must have good ratings in all four Institute tests. In addition, the winning vehicles must offer electronic stability control

Carrying a clean, uncluttered look with fluid curves, the new-for-2010 XC60 is both sporty and family-friendly. The base model has a peppy 235-hp, 3.2-liter six-cylinder engine that should suffice for most buyers; the costlier T6 version has a 281-hp, turbocharged, 3.2-liter six-cylinder powerplant. The standard six-speed automatic transmission operated flawlessly for us. All-wheel drive is optional on the base model and standard on the T6. The XC60's cabin is handsome and sufficiently roomy for long-legged drivers, and there is decent rear-seat space. Where the XC60 really impresses is in its ride and handling characteristics, which we found to be well-balanced—taking the corners securely while soaking up pavement imperfections.

Volvo is excited to announce that Edmunds.com named the Volvo XC60 a “Top Recommended" vehicle for 2010.

The ratings are based on expected performance in nine important categories–Combined Crash Rating, Safety Features, Rollover, Preventive Maintenance, Repair Costs, Warranty, Fuel Economy, Complaints, and Insurance Costs–with the heaviest emphasis placed on safety. It is important to consult the specific chapters to learn more about how the ratings are developed and to look on the car pages, beginning on page 81, for more details on these vehicles. In order to be considered as a “Best Bet” the vehicle must have a crash test rating as safety is a critical factor in gaining that recognition. Because most people are considering vehicles in the same size category, the “Best Bets” areby size—indicating how these vehicles compared against others in the same size class.

The ratings are based on expected performance in nine important categories–Combined Crash Rating, Safety Features, Rollover, Preventive Maintenance, Repair Costs, Warranty, Fuel Economy, Complaints, and Insurance Costs–with the heaviest emphasis placed on safety. It is important to consult the specific chapters to learn more about how the ratings are developed and to look on the car pages, beginning on page 81, for more details on these vehicles. In order to be considered as a “Best Bet” the vehicle must have a crash test rating as safety is a critical factor in gaining thatrecognition. Because most people are considering vehicles in the same size category, the “Best Bets” are by size—indicating how these vehicles compared against others in the same size class.

The IntelliChoice Best Overall Values for 2010 identifies the vehicles with the best total costs to own and operate a vehicle for the first five years of ownership. Selected from nearly 1,800 2010 model-year domestic and import vehicles, the Best Overall Value of the Year awards recognize the best car values by class. IntelliChoice's BOVY awards reflect the only data-driven automotive analysis focused solely on recognizing vehicles that will cost significantly less to own than other vehicles in its class

In its 2010 Initial Quality Study (IQS), released June 17, J.D. Power and Associates names Volvo C70 the top compact premium sporty car and ranks the Volvo nameplate as number 10 among automakers.

The leading research company's 2010 Initial Quality Study also names three Volvo models - S80, XC70, XC60 - among top three in respective classes.

Volvo Car's continued dedication to quality contributed to its 10th place ranking, up from 20th in 2009 on the US market. Every domestic and international automaker that sells vehicles in the United States is ranked by the number of problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), and Volvo this year earned its ranking by matching the industry average of 109 PP100.

"The IQS is the Olympics or World Championship of the car manufacturers' world, so it feels really good to improve our placing by a massive ten positions," says Bengt Banck, Senior Vice President, Quality and Customer Satisfaction at Volvo Cars.

2010 also marks the first year Volvo models have been individually recognized for outstanding value and performance.

Recently named the 2010 Best Overall Value of the Year in its luxury convertible class by IntelliChoice, the Volvo C70 now adds to its accolades recognition as the highest-ranking compact premium sporty car by J.D. Power and Associates.

In addition to the C70, Volvo has other models that rank within the top three in their segments: the S80 for midsize premium car brands, the XC70 for midsize premium crossover/SUV brands, and the XC60 for entry premium crossover/SUV brands.