Recently I was in Sweden as part of an initiative cosponsored by Volvo, Visit Sweden, West Sweden Tourism and Skåne Tourism. The goal was to bring more attention to a cool program Volvo runs for overseas car buyers. They sent me over there on a brief trip to show you some of the highlights of West Sweden for when you decide to take advantage of the Volvo Overseas Delivery program. Warning, I’m going to gush a bit in this post and it’s not just because they paid for my trip; I have no problems with being honest. I’m going to gush because this is really a great program, so read on.
I was shocked when I first found out about this program and I’m still confused as to why everyone doesn’t do this. In short, if you order the Volvo of your choice from your local Volvo retailer you can pick up your new car at the Gothenburg Factory Delivery Center or at any official delivery location in Europe and Volvo will pay for your airfare. Even better, when you’re done cruising around Europe Volvo will take care of all the paperwork involved when importing a car, from excise taxes to import duties.
The process is pretty simple. You buy a car in the U.S. to pick up in Sweden. Once the car has been built, Volvo provides you with two plane tickets on SAS Airlines to visit Gothenburg, Sweden where Volvo is headquartered. Once there you are able to go on a tour of the Volvo Factory and see how the massive plant works; they even provide one night of 5-star accommodations. Then, finally, you are able to pick up your car for a cool European road trip. You have up to six months to drive the car wherever you want, although most people use it as their annual vacation and spend a couple of amazing weeks driving around the incredibly beautiful Swedish countryside. When you’re done with your trip you drop the car back off and Volvo ships it back home for you free of charge. Overall, I can’t believe everyone who buys a Volvo doesn’t take advantage of this program; I mean, why wouldn’t you? If you’re interested, here are all the details: Volvo site.
Even though I didn’t buy a car, I went through some of the same experiences as those lucky buyers while I explored Sweden. I visited the small city that is the Volvo Torslanda plant and saw for myself the amazing process by which the cars are produced. It’s a symphony of automation, in a good way. I even got to borrow a Volvo V60 for the week and road tripped around the hills and coasts of West Sweden and Skåne. It was a wonderful drive made even better by the super comfy Volvo. I’m really not kidding when I say that my partner and I are seriously considering one for our next car.
That is the Volvo Overseas Buyer program in a nutshell as while the sweepstakes they were running is now over, it’s still a great program if you’re in the market to buy a new car.
We have done the overseas delivery program twice – the best way to buy a Volvo!
I’m seriously in love with the process – really considering it for next time
I just spent almost an hour filling out the itinerary for my dream Swedish vacation. It makes me wish I was looking for a new car, just so I’d have an excuse to really try it.
Ha! It’s fun isn’t it! Definitely put that area of Sweden on your future vacation list, I can’t wait to head back.
Matt,
I have often thought of these programs when I was either buying or leasing a car. It sounds like a great idea. One of my biggest holdups for my family was always the lag time about when I needed the car. Like either I was coming out of a lease on one car and needed a car by a certain date OR couldn’t wait on the car to be built (ie needed it right away) OR the lag time between getting the car in Sweden and then waiting for it to be shipped to the USA was too long. Where I am from (PHX), we do not have good public transportation (like most of the USA) and I didn’t really want to ride share, so the timing was always off. Anyway, just thought I would give you a few reasons why people like myself ( a professional married to a professional in the USA) don’t take advantage of these types of programs. We have owned, BMW’s, Mercedes, Range and Land Rovers, and MINI’s and many of them have this type of program, none of which worked logistically for us. But I will try my hand a the contest! I have won a few things, ya know?!
Great points and ones I had not considered and good luck on the contest!
Feb. 22. 2014
Hello Matt,
I’ve enjoyed reading your post about the purchase of a Volvo V60 in Sweden.
We have done the same journey in July 2011 when we purchased our XC60. It was just wonderful, everything was nice and the car arrived in Halifax and was shipped by train to Toronto, Ontario.
We are presently preparing to move into the US, probably May or June 2014, as soon as our immigration documents get ready. We will be selling our used XC60 in Canada and will be purchasing another overseas delivery Volvo in the US.
We have contacted a few Volvo dealerships, but we were not impressed with their knowledge about the overseas delivery program.
I would like to ask you, if I may, what taxes you have paid in the US upon the delivery.
In Canada we’ve paid 5% taxes out of the 90% of the car price. There was a 10% depreciation of total price due to the car have been used in Sweden and Denmark for 12 days, plus the $100 excise tax.
It is unknown to us how much the american residents pay:- state tax? -duty tax ?
Have you had a good experience with your Volvo dealer?
We’d very much appreciate your input.
Thank you,
Kind regards
Ana and John
We didn’t know they did this. When it comes time to look for a new car Volvo just got bumped up on the list a little more…
Yup it’s an amazing program