AFTER years without an active dealer, local owners of Volvo motor cars now have an opportunity for factory-approved service and sales of the popular European brand.

Challenger Import Company, sister-company to GM Challenger, was appointed Volvo agents last March, managing director Nigel Pagon told Auto.

Pagon said that his company offered servicing for the vehicles through an arrangement with the manufacturers in 2009 and took over fully the following year.

“We are now ready and will be operating from Lyndhurst Road (in Kingston),” he said.

According to Pagon, Volvo was without an authorised representative in Jamaica after Karram’s Kar Mart, which had the dealership for almost 46 years, relinquished it in 2007.

Introducing the 2011 Volvo S60 sedan, Pagon hopes to revive local affinity for the vehicle, once considered the measure of success here, but has since lost its prominence.

“Volvo has changed its aesthetics drastically,” he noted. “The vehicles are more aerodynamic, filled with tremendous features and are targeting a younger age group.”

One such special feature is the City Safety, which is unique to Volvo, known for building safe cars.

City Safety, or Pedestrian Detection, stops the Volvo S60 if the car identifies any object in its path.

“If a pedestrian steps into the road or you are getting too close to another vehicle the car will stop itself,” said Pagon.

“Volvo is synonymous with safety he added. The safety system has the ability to detect pedestrians who are at least 31 inches tall, then can apply full braking power to avoid a collision even if the driver takes no action. At lower speeds (around 21 mph or less) it can bring the car to a full stop, while at higher speeds it slows the S60 to lessen the severity of a potential impact.

Priced at $6.7 million the Volvo S60 offers a turbo-charged 3.0-litre inline, six-cylinder engine at 300 horse power. A six-speed automatic transmission with sport and manual shift modes is standard, as is all-wheel drive.

GM Challenger is agent for Chevrolet vehicles while Challenger Import Company will also sell and service the Fiat brand.