Last night, Volvo released a teaser video for a new vehicle it labeled as its “smallest coupe ever,” and I can’t help but feel that its marketing department dropped the ball on the timing.
The video introduces it as an ultra-modern, limited edition representative of a model specifically aimed at the next generation of consumers. Then, Volvo hinted that it might even be autonomous, and I assumed this was some wild concept vehicle never to enter production — but Volvo is already building it.
Of course, I felt like a moron when the big reveal finally came.
April Fools’ Day has become a great marketing opportunity for companies. While we’re at home playing mean-spirited pranks on our friends and family, corporations are trying to work an angle to garner attention and praise. While the commercial aspect of the “holiday” is rarely funny, occasionally something comes through that doesn’t make you want to roll your eyes or go on something the newspapers will later dub a “horrific spree.”
And yet, this isn’t technically a prank on the part of Volvo; they are actually building the car. The rub is — assuming the lines about it being the “smallest coupe ever” for the “next generation” with “no license required” didn’t give it away — that this particular product isn’t aimed at adults.
It’s a pedal-driven single seater for small children called the Volvo Rider. It costs roughly $180 — €166 plus tax — and comes in silver or the unfortunately named “crash-test orange.” While I don’t know anyone who would buy this personally, or the rest of Volvo’s lifestyle products for that matter, the company should be commended for a genuinely clever bit of marketing. But, again, why wait to release this on April 6th when it was such primo April 1st material?
[Image: Volvo]
Maybe April Fools is just being deprecated from the general culture. Nobody around me has given it more than a passing smirky nod for some time now.
You mean everyone around you has grown up.
That’s right Volvo, get them while they are young. Why don’t you let the first ride be free to get them hooked?
Just say no to peer pressure, kids. That S60 isn’t worth it.
This one will, tragically, and to Volvo’s detriment, be the only Volvo that would lose in a battle with a Fiat 500.
That would be cool and un-Volvo like too if they did come out with a car the size of a Fiat 500. On looks alone the 500 is one of my fave cars produced right now.
The steering wheel is much higher than the one in my old fire truck. They must have designed it for ages up to twelve. When I was twelve, I was doing odd jobs for little old ladies in the neighborhood.