The Volvo S80 conquers the ‘Business-Class’ of BMW 5 series and Mercedes E-Class with unprecedented price in this segment!

This week we started our ‘Business-Class’ Luxury Car Test-Drive Series with the Volvo S80, which in Egypt is the direct competitor of the established Mercedes E-Class, the dynamic and sporty BMW 5 Series as well as the not-so-widespread Audi A6.

The new 2014 face-lifted Volvo S80 comes with two main (and major!) advantages:

1.) The extremely competitive and in this luxury segment unprecedented price, which starts at 318.000 LE for the entry level and 368.000 LE for the High-Line version

2.) The very responsive and extremely fuel-efficient engine, which produces 180hp out of a 1.6litre, thus saving lots of fuel budget as well as customs, taxes and annual registration fees.

Until now the Volvo S80 engine (which is the same one used in the 2014 Volvo S60, which we will test end of this week) is the only 1.6litre-180hp engine in this luxury segment available in Egypt.

In 2016 BMW will offer the next-generation BMW 5 Series with a 3-Cylinder engine below 1600cc and with a fuel consumption of less than 4.0 litres per 100 km/h. But until then, the Volvo S80 surely sets the benchmark in Egypt in terms of fuel consumption as well as custom taxes and annual registration fees.

The first driving impression of the 2014 Volvo S80 is very positive so far. The 180hp-1.6 litre engine is very calm, yet very responsive and very fuel-efficient. The ride is very comfortable on our extremely bumpy roads, mainly due to the comfortable suspension and the extremely good and bumps-absorbing 225/50 R17 tires.

After Volvo Egypt – Ezz El Arab has improved significantly in terms of customer service, after sales and management over the past few months, it seems that the Volvo S80 could become one of the best-sellers in Egypt and give the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes E-Class and Audi A6 a really hard time.

That is all for now. Stay tuned for our detailed S80 test-drive and complete review which will surely contain a few surprises, in addition to the other competitor test-drives, shortly here on autoarabia.org and on our Auto Arabia Facebook group.

MS
29.10.2013
Cairo