Rob McMillan, 53, has been in the business of selling Volvos his entire life, which means he's been through three nasty, even dispiriting up-and-down cycles.
"The last one was the longest; it hurt a lot," says the long-time dealer principal of Volvo of Mississauga. Struggle and disappointment have been the Volvo story for more than a decade. But the suffering should be over now and no one knows this better than McMillan.
McMillan's family has been in the Volvo business for nearly 50 years, but no period has been as trying as the years dating back to when Ford bought Volvo for $6.5-billion (all figures U.S.) in 1999. Ford brought what we'll generously call a confused approach to developing.
Things grew messier still by 2004-05, when a struggling Ford began starving Volvo of research and development funds, slowing the new-product pipeline to a trickle. By 2010, when Zhejiang Geely Holding Group of China bought Volvo for $1.8-billion, Volvo's cupboard was bare of new models and technologies.
Five years later, however, there is hope. Three weeks ago, the first of many all-new Volvo models rolled into McMillan's showroom. The 2016 XC90 sport-utility vehicle became a reality.
"I went around to every employee [30] and shook every hand. Now they're starting to smile," he says. "I haven't been this pumped up in years."
To understand what this new XC90 means to McMillan and his ilk, know first that Volvo of Mississauga isn't just a business, it's McMillan's life. He's there every day. In a world where multiple-store dealer groups are becoming the norm, McMillan's dealership is part of a shrinking pool of family-owned retailers.
His father started McMillan and Saunders in 1957, selling British Leyland models before putting the focus on Volvo. Rob McMillan concedes that he always knew he'd spend a career in the car business and, at the age of 35, he started Erin Mills Volvo – which eventually merged with McMillan and Saunders to become the store he runs today.
Dealers such as this have survived because they take care of customers one at a time. They may not have deep pockets, but they live in the communities where they sell. That creates valuable, long-standing relationships.
McMillan's store survived Ford's management. He believes it will thrive under Geely. While Ford didn't put a nickel into Volvo from 2005-06 onward, since 2010 Geely has poured billions into its Swedish brand, reassembling it like an IKEA bookcase.
The car business, however, works in five-year cycles. Geely has the money to rebuild Volvo, but new products take years to ferment and deliver – and only succeed if the vision is right. Meantime, dealers like McMillan, wait and survive on promises from the manufacturer and the goodwill of old customers. Even now, times remain tough in Canada. Volvo sales are down year-to-date by 4.3 per cent, though McMillan and Volvo's head office believe the declines are history.
"The XC90," says McMillan "is a total game-changer. Volvo is back in the car business. This is a new car company."
One with a new $500-million plant being built in South Carolina and a lineup that will be reinvented over the next 24 months. Volvo's comeback strategy is familiar, inspired by Audi, in particular.
In 2000, Volvo Canada out-sold Audi Canada 8,658 to 5,992. But thanks to a barrage of new models, Audi sold five times the number of Volvos in 2014 – 24,514 to 4,468.
"The thing is," McMillan says, "we're seeing a different clientele" coming into test drive one of the two fully-booked XC90s demonstrators on his lot. "We're getting our Volvo people, but we're also getting people in Land Rovers and Mercedes and they're seeing they can get one of these [XC90] with every accessory, with all the bling, and still put money in their pocket."
It's early to crown Volvo's return a success, but there's a rich plan in place. By 2017, the oldest model in McMillan's showroom will be the new XC90.
"I'm really excited," he says.
And relieved for the sake of the family business and its legacy.
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Instagram
Add us to your circles
Sign up for our weekly newsletter