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-   -   Volvo India: Removing safety features from its cars! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/215500-volvo-india-removing-safety-features-its-cars.html)

Volvo a brand that stands for epitome of safety is now removing blind spot information system (BLIS), Cross traffic alert (CTA) from all its MY2020 cars. This is a shocking development to me, i own a XC90 and S60 Polestar and know first hand as to how useful those features are in India.

Volvo is also removing Head up display (HUD) from all cars and air suspension from most cars except the XC90. Kia is proving HUD in 15L Seltos but Volvo can't provide one even in Rupees 1 Crore+ car :Frustrati.

Attaching an image which i received in Volvo India owners whatsapp group, I'm unable to find a high quality image. Every other brand in India adds features when model year changes but Volvo is doing the exact opposite.

That's disappointing. If there was one reason to go with Volvo its not anymore. Hopefully they reduced the pricing to match the removal of features.

As a Volvo owner, this is super sad. Removing features from a car seems like what economy car manufacturers do. It looks really horrible for a company whose cheapest product right now costs 50+ lacs on road, especially one so concerned about safety.

Volvo is the last brand I would think when it comes to removing existing features and that too safety features from future models. :Frustrati This does not sound right. By removing these features are they going to price considerably lower than what it is now and is that going to be the same price range selling to the unsuspecting customers?

What's wrong with Volvo? Safety is what defines the brand. I fail to understand what it is trying to do by removing these features that should be standard on a 50-60 lakh car. :Frustrati

I have actually said this before in the XC40 thread that Volvo needs to skip some features which are either not exactly useful in the traffic scenario of our country or are just not required/desired by the Indian customer. At the end of the day Volvo needs to sell cars and one of the biggest driving points is the price vis a vis the competition.

Our own official review of a few Volvo cars has repeatedly mentioned that they had to switch off many features relating to safety just because it didn't make sense in our traffic and driving etiquette and in the end the various warnings just amounted to unwanted noise. This is indeed true for 99% of the times.

It goes out to show how many entry level cars Volvo sells compared to lets say BMW or Mercedes. That is the bread and butter segment and still I fail to spot more than 1 XC40 in a month while a BMW X1 is standing at every other corner. And this is Delhi NCR we are talking about where the dealership presence is not an issue.

Kia does offer the HUD in the Seltos but then in that segment it is available only in the top end variant which is costing a cool 2L more than the highest variant of the existing Creta. That is a huge jump in the price. Kia got it right because customers in that segment appreciated these features since they are segment first features.

It goes without saying that while I can see why Volvo wants to skip these features, it is definitely disappointing and I would have rather liked them to launch more variants with these features missing and starting at a lesser price point.

Absolutely!! That is one word that comes to.mind when one thinks of Volvo.

Blind spot information system (BLIS), Cross traffic alert (CTA) both mean additional safety in a chaotic country like ours so not sure what Volvo was thinking. But again, Indianising them is important.

I would consider the air suspension and HUD to be luxury and differentiating features. What other competitors offer air suspension at 50-60lakh price point though? I searched but couldn't find any in India - maybe it's me who is not searching right.

I was expecting some major safety equipment changes looking at the title, but thats not the case after going through the bulletin.

Blind spot - With crazy traffic around the vehicle most of the time, i am not sure if one can even use this feature everyday.
Cross traffic alert - I would love to have this feature and might be little disappointed.
Child seat in center rear - One can always use other two positions in the rear for fixing their child seat.
Heads up display - This feature is a sales gimmick and i am not sure how many owners use it in real world.
Air suspension - Its a nice to have feature but not a deal breaker.
Exterior color - Not a concern.
20 inch wheels - Not a concern.
Powered rear back seat - Not a concern.

If i was in the market for a Volvo, i would not discard the option because of this change. Reducing features over time is typical for any manufacturer and I hope this doesnt create any negative publicity in Indian market.

Do they still offer adaptive cruise control and autonomous emergency brakes at least? If it is only BLIS and Cross traffic alert, then I think it could be because of owner complaints. Regarding the other things like HUD, they should at least provide them as an option and for those who dont want it, reduce the price accordingly. AEB and Adaptive cruise control must at least be provided. AEB can at least prevent collision with other traffic or stationary vehicles and can be pretty crucial. ACC on the other hand might sound fancy for our conditions but we do have good expressways which allows a higher speed for a considerable amount of time.

While Cross Traffic Alert looks like an useful feature. Isn't BLIS an annoyance in our traffic conditions? We have people barreling with the intent of running over all the time, even in the open road.

Rear middle child seat is again rare thing, how many families have 3 kids these days and all in child seat age buying a Volvo :)

You're right in saying that most of these changes hardly affect the safety aspect of the car.

Problem is, unless the reduction in cost (admittedly mild) as a result of these downgrades is passed on to the customer, I'd still like to see such stuff remain especially if it has been offered in the past. If I were a luxury car buyer, the deletion of 20 inch wheels, air suspension, HUD and powered back seat among others would put me off, as if I focused on what I really needed I wouldn't be buying a luxury car in the first place.

BLIS and CTA

Can the usability/relevance of these safety features on cars sold in India be debated? Yes

Can the usability/relevance of these safety features on Volvo cars in India be debated? No, I guess.

How can safety be optional for Volvo? Safety is pivotal for the Volvo brand. I guess the downturn in the auto industry is making companies take drastic steps to stay afloat. It's unfortunate if safety features are diluted for India.

I hope customers vote with their money and make Volvo change their mind.

I am not justifying what Volvo is doing and of course those are nice to have features. But if i was in the market for a similar vehicle, i would be more concerned about ride, reliability, utility, powertrain and not worry about deletion of features which i would hardly use. If anything, those nice to have features are going to cause issues over the lifetime of the vehicle. I work on developing radars and advanced driver assist features for one of the biggest OEMs. When i bought both of my current vehicles, i was very particular that i chose a vehicle with no or minimal driver assist features.

To pick a real world scenario, there is a reason why good chunk of Indian buyers are opting for 21" wheels on Urus over 23". All of those buyers have tons of money at their disposal, yet they prefer smaller wheels for a reason.

As an XC90 user, the cross traffic alert has come in use a few times especially since it's such a huge car.

Quite surprising that VOLVO out of all car makers is deleting features. Let's hope this thread reaches them and they reverse their decision and re-add the missing features. Heated seats are something that we can live without