Volvo Plots Return To The Us Market Next Year

After several years adrift, as it changed owners and flirted with sexier ads, the Swedish automaker is in the midst of an $11 billion turnaround plan that it hopes will nearly double worldwide sales to 800,000 by 2020. [...] it says independent studies in Sweden have shown that Volvo passengers are several more times likely to escape injury after a crash. In 2010, for example, Volvo ran North American ads positioning the S60 sedan as "naughty" to attract young buyers, but it just confused people who knew the brand for its innovative safety features. A new S40 small car will follow. [...] those cars arrive, Volvo will have trouble attracting buyers who are skeptical of the brand, says Karl Brauer, a senior analyst with Kelley Blue Book.