Volvo Cars collaborates with Swedish superstar Robyn

Following its successful collaboration with Swedish football star Zlatan Ibrahimović, Volvo Cars is now delighted to announce it is joining forces with another Swedish superstar: Robyn. The female music artist will star in the second chapter of Volvo Cars’ “Made by Sweden” campaign, driving a Volvo V60 powered by the company’s new Drive-E powertrains.

The new campaign with Robyn will explore Sweden from her point of view in Los Angeles and focus on the company’s commitment to the environment, among other things via the company’s new Drive-E engine family. As such, the campaign communicates a strong, multi-faceted brand message from Volvo Cars, which delivers almost half of its non-fleet sales to female customers.

Robyn is without a doubt the most successful contemporary Swedish pop star, having sold millions of records around the globe since her debut as an artist in 1995. Like Volvo Cars, which is on a journey towards technology independence after a decade under Ford Motor Co ownership, Robyn is an example of iconoclastic and independent-minded Swedishness. In 2004, she abandoned her contract with a major music label and started her own record company, Konichiwa Records, on her own terms. The rest is history and Robyn is now more successful than ever.

With the new Drive-E powertrains, Volvo Cars has created a family of smaller, more intelligent petrol and diesel engines with power curves that give exciting drivability while at the same delivering the fuel economy of only four cylinders. By adding electrification such as plug-in hybrid technology to the engines, Volvo Cars can provide customers with both ultra-efficient and high-performance engines.

“I like Volvo, and I like what the company and the brand stands for,” says Robyn. “For instance, Volvo is a Swedish company that invented the three-point safety belt, but didn’t patent it because they knew that would mean fewer people could use a safer belt. I like things like that. This campaign promotes a wide-reaching environmental project, and after a lot of research I realized it can really make a difference"

“Working with Robyn has been a great experience,” says Per Carleö, Marketing Communications Manager at Volvo Cars Sweden and responsible for the coordination of the “Made by Sweden” campaign. “What impressed me is the thorough due diligence she did before committing to this campaign. I spent several hours with Robyn discussing our environmental commitment as a company, while she also spoke with several other environmental specialists. She takes this very seriously.”

The campaign officially started two weeks ago in Sweden with a television ad that was broadcast at primetime, and will now be rolled out in other markets around the globe. In the coming weeks, the campaign will be expanded via print, digital and outdoor advertisements.

“I am very excited that Volvo has joined forces with another true Swedish superstar,” says Alain Visser, Senior Vice President Marketing, Sales and Customer Service at Volvo Cars. “Robyn is a perfect fit with the Volvo brand and what it stands for. We have seen the power of good marketing campaigns through our collaboration with Zlatan Ibrahimović, and I am confident that this new chapter in the Made by Sweden campaign will be a great success as well.”

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Volvo Car Group in 2013

For the 2013 financial year, Volvo Car Group recorded an operating profit of 1,919 MSEK (66 MSEK in 2012). Revenue over the period amounted to 122,245 MSEK (124,547 MSEK), while net income amounted to 960 MSEK (-542 MSEK). Global retail sales for the year amounted to 427,840 (421,951) cars, an increase of 1.4 per cent compared to 2012. The operating profit was the result of cost control and strong sales and was further tangible proof of Volvo Car Group’s progress in implementing its transformation plan. For the full year 2014, the company expects to stay in black figures and predicts to record a global sales increase of a good 5 per cent.

About Volvo Car Group

Volvo has been in operation since 1927. Today, Volvo Cars is one of the most well-known and respected car brands in the world with sales of 427,000 in 2013 in about 100 countries. Volvo Cars has been under the ownership of the Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely Holding) of China since 2010. It formed part of the Swedish Volvo Group until 1999, when the company was bought by Ford Motor Company of the US. In 2010, Volvo Cars was acquired by Geely Holding.

As of December 2013, Volvo Cars had over 23,000 employees worldwide. Volvo Cars head office, product development, marketing and administration functions are mainly located in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Cars head office for China is located in Shanghai. The company’s main car production plants are located in Gothenburg (Sweden), Ghent (Belgium) and Chengdu (China), while engines are manufactured in Skövde (Sweden) and Zhangjiakou (China).