Volvo's Overseas Delivery Program
The factory delivery center in Gothenburg (Goteborg), Sweden is usually the ending point of a Volvo vacation. The company offers about an 8% savings over U.S. MSRP on most models.
Volvo offers free roundtrip airfare for two via SAS and one night in a Gothenburg hotel. Keep in mind this is a popular program, and its availability often is limited. You may only use the airfares when your car is ready for delivery.
Volvo also will give you free tourist registration and return shipment of your car, and they pay duty, port fees and even European car insurance for 15 days.
This year, Volvo offers the winter options of Rome or Dublin for delivery. The cities change each year but the offer remains fairly standard. It closes at the end of April each year.
Volvo offers 10 eligible models: S40, S60, S80, V50, V70, XC70, XC90, XC90 R-Design, C30 and C70.
We are not necessarily talking about high-end models here, and the costs for these models can be $2000 less than you'd pay stateside. At $23,800 USD, the C30 Coupé currently is the least expensive of these models.
Although there are 12 pick-up points for Volvo, the only one that does not involve a fee is Gothenburg, Sweden (the factory site). The others incur fees between $985-1295 USD. There are similar fees for drop-off when your trip is completed: no fee for Gothenburg and €30 for Bremerhaven, Germany; the others range between €155-€730 ($214-$1008 USD). Many of these euro-based fees have increased recently, and then Americans must add the devalued dollar to their costs.
Look at your itinerary. Is it cheaper to pay the €360 ($497 USD) dropoff fee in Copenhagen when there is no charge in Gothenburg, 143 miles away?
This is not a new program, but it is a popular one. Volvo says more than 300,000 people have bought cars this way. Many of them are military personnel or people with extended business stays planned for Europe. Others are simply people with the budget travel bug.
Like Mercedes, Volvo has also developed a promotional video you can view on their Web site.
