Muscat: Consumers in the region are becoming more cost-conscious, less loyal to brands and rapidly shifting purchasing behaviors according to a 2018 Middle East Sentiment Survey by McKinsey & Company,. It has been found infact that modern-day buyers aren’t brand conscious at all, given that the market is flooded with similar options to choose from.

Despite this obvious shift in consumer behavior the one brand that has consistently stood out and garnered countless devotees over the years, not just in Oman but globally, is Swedish car manufacturer Volvo. Courtesy the brand’s local distributor MHD in the Sultanate, Volvo has carved a niche for itself by delivering safety, comfort and technology to customers throughout Oman; adding to their joy of owning a car, while providing them with sheer driving pleasure.

This Ramadan, MHD has had the privilege to experience Volvo’s strong appeal in the sultanate that has been passed on from generation to generation, when they delivered a stunning Volvo S90 to Mr. Mukhtar Al-Khatri and family. S90 is the 12^th in a series of Volvos that have been delivered to the Al-Khatri family over the years.

Excited to receive the latest edition of Volvo S90, Mr Mukhtar explained: “Globally renowned for their design and safety features, Volvo cars are a rite of passage in our family. My father bought the suave and sturdy Volvo 244 GL in the year 1980; and I too had the pleasure of driving it as soon as I obtained my license. Although the car is 40 years old, it is still in running condition, but cannot unfortunately be driven on the roads here in Oman, due to the rules and regulations governing the usage of old cars. I’m pleased to have received my luxurious new S90 from MHD recently, and am delighted to be carrying the family’s Volvo legacy forward.”         

Mr. Muhammad Faisal Nawaz, Marketing Manager – Volvo , Mentioned ‘Coming across a customer like Mr. Mukhtar is like finding a pearl among empty oysters. A loyal customer shows how much the brand has remained true to its character over decades, in this case Volvo. We at MHD Automotive and Volvo are proud to serve such customers who we will cherish throughout our journey.’

Mr. Mukhtar’s commitment to the brand is nothing short of remarkable. In the past 40 years, he has owned several Volvo cars including Volvo V40, Volvo S60, Volvo XC90, and Volvo S90. “As the size of our families grew, so did our needs; making it imperative for us to upgrade to various new models of Volvo, over the years. Three generations of our family have driven and continue to drive Volvo cars. My family, my brother’s family, as well as all our kids are proud owners of various Volvo models”, he added proudly.

To state that Volvo has been on a roll in recent days would be an understatement. Long known for building safe, durable vehicles, Volvo can now see and hear additional adjectives and superlatives being heaped upon the brand, especially regarding its forward-looking design and engineering process.

“Personally, I enjoy the comfort and reliability of the Volvo brand, when compared to its European peers. Also, lately I have noticed that the performance and styling of the car has improved greatly,” Al Khatri mentioned.

It is important to note that Volvo Cars has for the first time made its safety knowledge easily accessible in a central digital library which it urges the car industry to use, in the interest of safer roads for all. The gesture symbolizes the company’s philosophy of boosting safety through sharing knowledge that helps saving lives and comes on the sixty-year anniversary of what may have been the most important invention in the history of automotive safety, the three-point safety belt.

Introduced by Volvo Cars in 1959, the three-point safety belt is estimated to have saved over one million lives globally, not just in Volvos but in numerous other cars, thanks to its decision to share the invention in the interest of improving traffic safety. Since then it has continued to prioritise societal progress over financial gain alone.

To celebrate this milestone and to underline that its sharing tradition goes beyond patents and physical products, Volvo Cars has also launched Project E.V.A. The initiative embodies and celebrates sixty years worth of sharing research into car safety with the world, and also highlights a fundamental issue with inequality in terms of car safety development. Project E.V.A. illustrates, based on Volvo Cars’ own research data as well as several other studies, that women are more at risk for some injuries in a car crash. Differences in for example anatomy and neck strength between the average man and woman mean that women are more likely to suffer from whiplash injuries.

The idea of prioritising societal progress still drives Volvo Cars’ safety development work. It develops new technology not to only meet safety standards or pass regulatory tests, but because its own research data, based on a close analysis of tens of thousands of real-life accidents, show where safety can be improved.