????“剛?cè)胧忠惠v86版的DL240旅行車，它已經(jīng)跑了21.4萬英里。它看起來非常好，不過它似乎不喜歡在半箱油以下的情況下啟動。”

????“我想買一輛沃爾沃240旅行車。如果車況良好的話，我愿意付最高價。如果我想保有它10年以上的話，我應(yīng)該買一輛公里數(shù)在多少左右的車？”

????1992年沃爾沃240被沃爾沃850所取代，這款經(jīng)典老車就此宣告停產(chǎn)。沃爾沃核心的850車型也繼承了240方方正正的車身，850轎車版的造型就像是旅行版被砍掉了尾巴。沃爾沃一共生產(chǎn)了140萬臺850，但它從來沒有達到240那樣的經(jīng)典地位。

????850及其后繼車型標(biāo)志著沃爾沃開始著力打造安全和耐久的品牌形象，并把自己打造成一個成熟的高端品牌，這個努力持續(xù)了整整20年。不過由于沃爾沃產(chǎn)量較小，且生產(chǎn)基地位于成本極高的瑞典，因此沃爾沃的轉(zhuǎn)型努力從來沒有真正成功過。它的汽車也趕不上其他歐洲競爭對手的性能和水平。

????上世紀(jì)90年代末，當(dāng)時仍然盈利的沃爾沃被賣給了福特（Ford）。它跟捷豹（Jaguar）和路虎（Land Rover）一樣，成了福特高端汽車集團（Premier Automotive Group）的一個成員。福特當(dāng)年收購沃爾沃共花了64.5億美元，希望能夠借用自己龐大的規(guī)模經(jīng)濟攤薄沃爾沃的生產(chǎn)成本，重建沃爾沃這個品牌。

????福特進一步地把沃爾沃推向了高端市場。在這種情況下，沃爾沃推出了第一款跨界車XC60，這款車后來也取得了成功。主打豪華轎車市場S80則因定位模糊而銷量平平。

????同時福特也想把沃爾沃的生產(chǎn)工藝移植到自己的汽車上（如福特500），不過后來發(fā)現(xiàn)，嫁接的結(jié)果不僅十分昂貴，也導(dǎo)致車身過重，只得作罷。

????在最近一次經(jīng)濟危機的打擊下，沃爾沃遭受了巨大損失，已經(jīng)不再符合福特CEO艾倫?穆拉利的“一個福特”戰(zhàn)略。由于找不到有錢的買主，2010年，福特以18億美元的價格將沃爾沃賣給了中國浙江的吉利控股集團，也就是吉利汽車的母公司。這個價格還不到十年前收購價的三分之一。

????吉利立即挖走了個性十足的大眾汽車公司（VW）高管斯蒂芬?雅各比，指示他把沃爾沃轉(zhuǎn)變成寶馬（BMW）的一個競爭者。雅各比宣布將投入巨資用于車型研發(fā)，并承諾在2020年前將沃爾沃的全球銷量翻一番。

????自那時起，沃爾沃就接連遭遇霉運。中國政府仍把沃爾沃當(dāng)成外資公司對待，因為沃爾沃的總部仍在瑞典。這意味著沃爾沃將與規(guī)模高達150億美元的公務(wù)車市場無緣。

????要規(guī)避進口關(guān)稅，就要把汽車國產(chǎn)化，但沃爾沃發(fā)現(xiàn)，它無法獨立在中國生產(chǎn)汽車。相反，它必須要和吉利成立一家合資企業(yè)，然后通過它來運作工廠，同時還要建立一個單獨的中國品牌來進行生產(chǎn)和銷售。

????雖然有報道指出，沃爾沃將把這個新品牌定位在一個較低的價格點上，并且令它使用較老的技術(shù)，不過從本質(zhì)上講，沃爾沃這樣做等于是成立一家公司來與自己競爭。雪上加霜的是，沃爾沃的首席設(shè)計師彼得?霍布里也離開了沃爾沃，被“挖”到了吉利，在那里他將為新品牌賦予獨特的設(shè)計語言。

????"Just purchased an 86 DL 240 wagon. 214000 mileage on her now. Seems to be tiptop but it doesn't like starting below half tank o' gas."

????"I'm looking to buy a 240 Volvo wagon. I'm willing to pay top dollar for a car in good condition. If I plan to keep the car for 10 years or more what kind of mileage is recommended?"

????The 240 was replaced in 1992 by the 850 and eventually discontinued. As with the 240, Volvo made the boxy wagon its core 850 model, and the sedan was styled like a wagon with the rear end cut off. During its five-year production run, Volvo produced 1.4 million 850s, but the car never achieved the cult status of the 240.

????The 850 and succeeding models marked the beginning of a two-decade long effort by Volvo to move away from its image for longevity and safety and elevate its name into a full-fledged luxury brand. With Volvo's small volume and a production base in high-cost Sweden, the move was dictated by economics and never really succeeded. The cars couldn't approach the level and features of their European competitors.

????At the end of the 1990s, Volvo, still profitable, was sold. Ford, having already purchased Jaguar and Land Rover decided to add it to its Premier Automotive Group. Hoping to rebuild the company by spreading Volvo's engineering costs over its vast economies of scale, Ford paid $6.45 billion in 1999.

????Ford (F, Fortune 500) pushed Volvo further up-market. The effort produced Volvo's first crossover, the XC60, a late but successful addition to the product line, and the S80, an undistinguished aspirant to luxury sedan status.

????Ford also tried to adapt Volvo engineering to its own cars like the Ford 500 but found the results expensive and overweight.

????The global financial crisis at the end of the '00s produced big losses at Volvo, which no longer fit CEO Alan Mulally's One Ford strategy. With deep-pocketed buyers in short supply, Ford sold Volvo in 2010 to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the parent of Chinese manufacturer Geely Automotive, for $1.8 billion -- less than one-third of the price it had paid a decade earlier.

????Geely immediately poached VW's hard-charging executive Stefan Jacoby and instructed him to turn Volvo into a BMW competitor. Jacoby announced plans for a big investment in new models and promised to double worldwide sales to 800,000 by 2020.

????Since then, Volvo has run into nothing but more bad luck. The Chinese government ruled that Volvo is still a foreign company since it is still incorporated in Sweden. That means Volvo is shut out of the $15 billion market for government cars.

????Then Volvo discovered that it couldn't build cars in China on its own -- a necessity to avoid stiff import duties. Instead it would have to form a joint venture with Geely to operate the plant, plus create a separate Chinese brand for the partnership to build and sell.

????Although there are reports that Volvo will position the brand at a lower price point and supply it with older technology, it is essentially setting up a company to compete with itself. To add to its pain, top designer Peter Horbury left Volvo and moved over to the partnership, where he will put his distinctive mark on the new brand.