<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Johann:<BR><B>The R was mentioned also and I said that this was a big mistake from Volvo to introduce the car this late and that a few R drivers I know are shopping else at the moment.<BR>The Volvo guy basically confirmed that this was observed by Volvo also and that it worried them.<BR>Maybe Volvo realizes that the R is yesterdays performance Volvo by the time it comes to market.</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><BR>That is the main reason that they are pushing it ahead of the original schedule. The original schedule coincides with what you wrote and I think that we will see this car sooner that what they told you, in the Netherlands.<P>"Yesterday's performance"? Hardly. If that were the case, then half of Volvo's line-up should be erased! This car will have a lot of the latest technology and from the performance standpoint, it will be up to par with many of its competitors. Don't forget, this is a NOVELTY product and it will carve its own niche and conquer some of the M3 crowd, etc. But its main clientele will center on Volvo loyalists, Saab performance-minded drivers and yuppies!<P>Yannis<P><BR>P.S. The US economy looks like it is turning the corner; that is good news for..."unnecessary" items such as M3s, S60Rs, S4s, etc.<P>Yannis<BR><P>