Volvo's 39 minutes of fame

Being a fan of Volvo, for their safety and… bla bla… Mainly because I’m half-Swedish, I decided to follow up on the article we published just a little while ago about the interesting way Volvo was releasing their most exclusive S60 sedans, the Volvo S60 T8 Polestar Engineered: only through their mobile app(!)…

Well, it turns out that it takes only 39 mintes to “sell” (if it’s called “sell” when you are offering the cars as a subscription?) the 20 Volvo S60 T8 Polestar Engineered luxury sedans earmarked for the U.S. market. They’re all gone!

With 415 horsepower and 494 lb/ft torque, Öhlins suspension, Brembo brakes and a whole list of other enhancements, the 2019 S60 T8 Polestar Engineered is what you might call the créme de la créme of S60s, offering the Volvo/Polesatar performance and commitment to electrification (it is, after all, a hybrid).

Naturally, the release of 20 cars caused some debacle online. Volvo, smartly, harnessed the social media flurry and is offering a complimentary Polestar Engine Software Optimization upgrade to the next 200 “Care by Volvo” (that’s what they are calling it when you ‘subscribe’ to the car) S60 T6 AWD R-Design subscribers on a first-come, first-served basis.

Care by Volvo is Volvo Cars’ subscription program, bundling car payment, insurance, maintenance and some wear and tear for two years into one monthly fee. I guess fairly similar to cell phone subscriptions… A really expensive cell phone.