Nemith Volvo

VOLVO-THE WORLD'S SAFEST CAR
NEMITH-THE USA's OLDEST FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED VOLVO DEALER.

VOLVO SAVED MY LIFE:
Before any Volvo is created, hundreds of engineers in Sweden spend untold hours of testing to help make each new model safer than previous models. I think they work on safety projects with the idea that maybe one day, someone they know will be fine after an accident. The following is an amazing story of how one Volvo performed in a real world accident.

My name is Kathy. I am a wife, mother of two beautiful daughters and two golden retrievers. I am also the proud owner of a Volvo!!!! In fact my family of 4, has 4 Volvos!!! We will never purchase any other brand of automobile. I have a front license plate that reads "VOLVO.FOR LIFE" and no truer words could be spoken.

On March 31, 2007 my younger daughter and I were victims of an attempted carjacking. A wanted fugitive was on the loose and a police pursuit of him was in progress. We were in our Volvo S40 and he came at me head on, side swiped me and then hit me again in the rear with his Mercedes. He then got out of his vehicle and put a gun to my head!!! I ducked to protect my daughter and he fired the round into my Volvo. I hit the gas pedal and fled the scene.

My Volvo, by some miracle, even with the damage it sustained got me away from there. His Mercedes was disabled from the impact. My daughter called 911 and he was finally apprehended. My car was impounded for 65 days and had $10,000 worth of damage. The state police told me if I were driving anything else we would have been dead.

They also told us because it was a Volvo they were able to carefully take the interior apart, piece by piece and retrieve the bullet which was lodged in the heater core intact. One of the officers said this bullet would have stopped a moose dead in its tracks, BUT IT DIDN'T STOP MY VOLVO!!!!!

The S40 was our first Volvo and we still have it. Since that day in March we have purchased 3 more Volvos  an XC90, S60 and another S40. We are an all American family with a house on our cookie cutter lot with two golden retrievers and 4 Volvos proudly parked in our driveway. I recently picked up a book called Volvo Saved My Life and wanted to tell my story.

Around 1995, in our Rockleigh office, we had drawings of concepts that VCC was working on. One was an SUV. Then one day the drawing was gone. No one fessed up to taking it, it was just 'gone'. Rolling forward to 2000 when we showed XC90, I'll be darned if that wasn't it..I mean the one on that poster that no one knows where it went?it's here.

Looking back, and in a sense forward, and listening to Peter Horbury, our design chief, talk about how he, and other designers strive for timeless design, XC90 seems to be heading in that direction. The car has such nice lines, it's hard to imagine it being penned over 11 years ago, that today it has that strong Swedishness of Volvo. It's a design that doesn't ask you to define what the designer was thinking, it's just one comfortable looking piece of steel.

Considering the technology we introduced with XC90 dates back to 2001, in my opinion, it is still one of, if not the safest SUV being offered. Before the car was launched we pow wow'd how to differentiate our SUV from all others, considering we were about the last to market with one, someone said 'roll it over' ? so we did. I watched one test, at 35 mph it rolled 3.25 times, what noise.

Amazing how much noise it made, kind of gave everyone goose bumps watching it roll.

Only had one glass crack and aside from being really beat up, the doors remained closed and we could open them up. Actually the only real damage was when the fork lift tried to roll it back on all tires, it punched holes in the doors. So where am I going with this?

James just came back from Mudfest. Held annually up in Seattle, Washington by the Northwestern Automotive Press Association, this event determines who has what it takes to tackle?you guessed it MUD. This year, lots of mud was on hand. Anyway, James called from the SFO airport, waiting for his connection flight home. I could tell he was bummed out, "It's an old SUV, still looks good but there was so many more newer designed models?we'll never win." Told him to go buy a loaf of sourdough bread and get on his flight home. We know technically it's built tough, it'll go just about anywhere, it's all about Volvoness, but knowing journalists, they like the 'whats new SUV' factor and, well XC90 is not whats new.

James wrote this press release:

Volvo XC90 still impressive after all these years

2011 XC90 takes top honors in its class at annual NWAPA Mudfest

Irvine, CA (April 4, 2011)- The Volvo XC90 has been awarded yet another accolade at the annual Northwest Automotive Press Association (NWAPA) Mudfest. Already a two-time defending SUV of the Year champion (2002 and 2003), the Volvo XC90 was named best Luxury SUV by the group at its recently held 2011 event.

Up against stiff competition from BMW (X3), Infiniti (QX56), Mercedes-Benz (R350 BlueTEC 4 MATIC), and Land Rover (Range Rover Sport), the XC90 3.2 AWD R-Design impressed the Mudfest jurors with its tremendous value, sporty good looks and seating for seven.

"It's great to see such a grizzled veteran of the Mudfest competition still considered relevant today," said Doug Speck, President and CEO of Volvo Cars of North America. "To go up against competitors, some of which weren't around when the XC90 went on sale in 2002, and still walk away with a category win illustrates why the XC90 remains one of our top sellers. I couldn't be happier."

This year, Mudfest was held at the DirtFish Rally School in Snoqualmie, Washington. Twenty six of the leading automotive journalists from the Northwest drove and evaluated 20 different 2011 SUVs and crossovers during the competition.

The Pacific Northwest is true SUV territory and remains one of the nation's top sales markets for the entire line of Volvo's XC vehicles. During the one-day event, the XC90 was tested vigorously both on- and off-road. Pavement tests allowed the jurors to once again experience Roll Stability Control, the world-first anti-rollover safety system introduced in the XC90. Today, such systems are mandated by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) for SUVs and similar vehicles. Off-road, the XC90 shined with its advanced Instant Traction all-wheel-drive system, which places power to the wheel with the most traction.

I'd say it's a timeless design.

This just in:  It ranks our XC90 as the least expensive car to insure. I'd have to say when this car was designed, more than 11 years ago, the intention was and continues to be about accident avoidance and occupant protection.

With the worlds first Roll-Over Protection System (ROPS), we developed a whole new way to help avoid a roll-over accident. With ROPS gyro based technology, it could sense when an XC90 was getting close to rolling over. ROPS applied the brakes to one or more wheels to modulate rolling action. Sure, there are times when rolling is unavoidable, like hitting a curb sideways, or driving into a ditch, but that's where XC90?s Ultra-High Strength Steel (UHSS) reinforcements in the hood help protect occupants, along with inflatable side curtains.

When we launched XC90, one journalist took to heart our ROPS system. Without our knowledge, he hired a couple of professional drivers, rented an unused parking area and tried to roll over his loaner car. He wrote:

Author(s): Royal Ford Date: October 12, 2002 Page: D1 Section: Automotive

"We put the XC90 through a tight slalom course that in the past, even moving as "slowly" as 40 miles per hour, has lifted a rear wheel or put other SUVs over on two wheels in tilts that only trained drivers could fix. The everyday motorist would have rolled in these situations. The XC90 would not even go up onto two wheels, and the everyday motorist could have been doing what we were doing."

"We put the XC90 through an emergency lane change (picture traveling at 60-plus miles per hour and suddenly spotting a dead tanker truck 55 feet ahead of you). Slam the ABS brakes, steer around the obstacle, and move back in front of it after passing it. Not easy for an SUV to handle. The XC90 did it with ease."

"Flat out, this is a car that will save lives."

The proof is in the pudding.

No one really buys a car expecting to get in an accident. Years ago I was talking to a car insurance guy about accident frequencies, 'about once every 12 years'. I don't even want to go there with thoughts on timing.

Here's a story we just received. The accident was with our first generation C70 Convertible. This was the first time we used ultra high strength steel (boron treated steel) in our cars. Inside the 'A' pillar is a tube structure designed to keep the A pillar in place and when coupled with rear pop-up ROPS (like roll bars), they give the driver a good zone area that helps protect in a roll over. Also around the belt line is more of that steel to help create a caged structure. Yellow is ultra high strength steel:

My name is Kasey, and I am lucky to be writing this email. If it was not for my Volvo C70, I have no doubt that this would not be possible at this time. On Friday, January 21st, 2011 I was driving my usual route to work during rush hour traffic. I live out West, so of course it was 75 degrees and sunny, which for me means I am driving with my top down. Since I was traveling on a major highway, I was traveling at speeds around 70 MPH? when out of nowhere another driver moved into my lane. I swerved to avoid being hit by the other driver, and in upon doing so, my car went into a fishtail. I was not able to regain control, and my car veered off the side of the road, where it proceeded to flip 4 times, slide down the gravel embankment on the driver's door, and then flip once more to land be back on what was left of my tires. Imagine my surprise when I opened my eyes and I was alive. Not only was I alive, but coherent. I was rushed to the hospital, were upon running all necessary test, the conclusion was that there was nothing wrong with me. Other than some bruising and muscle soreness, I just walked away from a high speed roll over with my convertible top down. To say the least, the doctors, police and ambulance teams were shocked to see that I was fine. There was one common theme that I heard over the next 2 weeks, and that was "Thank God you were driving a Volvo." Everyone from my co-workers, to Facebook friends, to strangers I meet that hear my story, all believe that I owe my life to Volvo. I KNOW I owe my life to Volvo, and my children, my husband, and my family all thank you. How do you thank a car manufacturer for saving your life? I have no idea how to go about this process, other than to spread the word to every person I come into contact with that Volvo is the reason I was given a second chance. If not for your ROPS, this story would not be possible. I do not know if I will be able to afford another Volvo, but If I am, you just made me a Volvo customer for life.. I have attached photos of my car after the accident, once you have viewed these, I am sure you will agree that you have done nothing short of a miracle in saving my life. I want my story shared will every single employee at Volvo, so they will know I want to personally thank every engineer, every line worker and every office member that makes Volvo possible. I want all Volvo employees to know that the work they are doing today is saving lives. Please promise me that you will thank every single employee at Volvo and send them my heartfelt thank you.

Ok, a little chest pounding and few Viking high fives are going around our office today. Interesting about roof strength standard and IIHS results.

Volvo S60 earns Top Safety Pick award

The 2012 Volvo S60 earns the Institute's Top Safety Pick award for good performance for front, side, rollover, and rear crash protection, plus standard electronic stability control (ESC).

The previous generation of the S60 earned good ratings in the Institute's front and rear evaluations, but for 2005-09 it was rated acceptable in the side impact test. The previous model wasn't evaluated for roof strength in rollover crashes. The new model improves to good in the side impact test, and earns a good rating in the roof strength test. The roof of the S60 withstood a force equal to 4.95 times the car's weight. By comparison, the current federal standard is 1.5 times weight. Institute research demonstrates that occupants of vehicles with strong roofs are much less likely to sustain serious injuries in rollover crashes.

In addition to good crash test ratings, winners must have ESC, an important crash-avoidance feature, which is standard on the S60.

Good weekend to you all. For us on the East side of America, some of our Spring Flowers are starting to show. Nice time of year.

Volvo Safety Center

10 years ago we moved from a very cramped, limited 'real world' crash testing facility to one that no one could top. One key feature was a movable track that rides on an air cushion, which can duplicate just about any kind of impacting angle where two vehicles could meet at varying speeds. No one had that kind of capability. While removing earth from this movable track area, workers found stone tools and artifacts from very early Swedes. For many years they were on display, which is kind of ironic that we saved something from past lives to help future lives.