Volvo – Name becomes generic to the category

While waiting for a cab outside the office, I came across another cab with a Volvo sticker pasted along the sides and on the rear.

In the past, I have seen local buses, motor-cycles, auto-rickshaws, hand-rickshaws, trucks and almost every kind of vehicle with the Volvo stickers.

I feel that it is an example of how a brand's name while offering certain kinds of benefits (which are new to the category) becomes a category generic especially when it relates to the first mover in the market.

These buses were introduced in India at a time when there were limited road transport options. The common local and state buses were more suitable for the lowest strata of the society and the middle class who could afford to pay a little more for comfort didn’t have too many options. Versions such as Luxury Bus, Video-Coach, Express and Super-fast were merely feel good symbols painted on these vehicles without much tangible benefit. The rich however, had the option of travelling by their own cars or renting them.

This was a period when luxury coach stood for a bus with seats made of sponge and covered with velvet instead of jute and rexine. The touch of luxury also came with the new generation video coach buses which could play a movie or two. Highways stood for ‘long distances’ and ‘over-night’ travel and not much for roads which could connect two points much faster and easier. The air-conditioning was non-existent and the only source of relief from the sultry Indian climate was the window which was shared between seats.

The introduction of the Volvo buses during this period meant a lot more to the Indian middle class than the functional benefits they offered. It was an answer to the middle class’s desire to get a feel of luxury within their means. For them, it wielded them with the power to make a statement, share stories about their experiences with others and also feel a sense of having arrived in life.

It is therefore not surprising, that the brand received huge acceptance and became synonymous with the experience and the benefits that it delivered over the traditional means of road transport.

Today, with the improvement of road infrastructure, more money in the hands of people, lower costs for entry level cars, cheaper and equally good luxury bus options, etc., the pride that people once associated with Volvo buses in their minds, is diminishing. However, it still remains one of the key choices in their consideration set.