Never underestimate the power of marketing. Volvo has produced some very important safety innovations over the years -- this is the company, after all, that gave us the three-point seatbelt, and had a full contingency of active and passive safety features before most of us knew what the terms meant.
But I just read a new survey by Consumer Reports, which asked readers to judge new vehicles based on a number of factors. Almost every automaker offers every safety feature found on the average Volvo, at least on some or most models. Yet when it came to safety, Volvo led the category by 71 percent. The second-place company? Ford -- at nineteen percent. Yes, Volvo are good, solid, safe vehicles, but a difference of 52 percent? Come on, people ... get a grip.
