Volvo Flies You to Sweden to Pick Up Your New Car

Picture this: you're shopping for a new car at your local Volvo dealership in America. The salesperson mentions you could pick it up in Sweden. With a free trip. For two people. Including flights, hotels, and shipping the car home.

This sounds like a sales pitch too good to be true, but the Volvo Overseas Delivery program has been running since 1955, making it one of the automotive industry's most enduring customer perks. It's basically a Swedish vacation disguised as a car purchase.

What Volvo Actually Covers

The package is legitimately impressive. Order any new Volvo through the program and you'll get roundtrip premium economy flights for two to Gothenburg, Sweden on Scandinavian Airlines or equivalent carriers. That alone could be worth $2,000-3,000 depending on when you travel.

You'll stay two nights at a luxury Gothenburg hotel (three if you're already a Volvo owner), enjoy a Scandinavian lunch at the factory's restaurant, and get the full VIP treatment at the World of Volvo museum where you'll take delivery of your vehicle. The experience includes a factory tour and that new-car reveal moment, except it's happening in the country where your Volvo was actually built.

Then comes the fun part: you can drive your new car around Europe for up to two months. Volvo provides 15 days of complimentary insurance and registration. When you're done exploring, drop it off at one of their approved locations (or pay a small fee to return it elsewhere), and Volvo ships it home, handles all customs and import duties, and delivers it to your local dealership.

Oh, and you get 4% off the sticker price, which on a $50,000 vehicle means $2,000 back in your pocket.

The Fine Print Nobody Mentions

Here's where "all costs covered" gets a bit fuzzy. The core package is free, but several expenses aren't included:

• Upgrading to business class (you pay the fare difference)
• Extended insurance beyond 15 days costs extra, though available up to two months
• Dropping the car at non-standard locations incurs handling fees
• Any travel planning assistance beyond the basic package
• Everything you do in Europe outside the Volvo experience - hotels after the first two nights, rental cars, train tickets, that Stockholm side trip

Still, even with these limitations, you're getting thousands of dollars in value. Most customers treat it as a heavily subsidized European vacation where the "catch" is you have to pick up a car you were buying anyway.

Why Would Volvo Do This?

It seems wildly generous until you consider the psychology. This program creates brand evangelists. Customers who fly to Sweden, tour the factory, and drive their Volvo through the Alps don't just buy a car - they buy into an experience. They return home with stories, photos, and an emotional connection to the brand that no amount of advertising could manufacture.

Plus, Volvo saves on domestic inventory costs. Your car doesn't sit on a dealer lot depreciating. You're essentially taking delivery of a fresh-from-factory vehicle, and Volvo gets to optimize their shipping logistics by batching customer cars together.

The program has introduced over 100,000 Americans to Sweden since its inception. That's 100,000 customers who didn't just test drive a Volvo - they lived with it in the land of its birth. It's marketing genius wrapped in Scandinavian hospitality.

So yes, Americans really can get a Swedish vacation when buying a Volvo. Just don't expect them to cover your meatball expenses after the welcome lunch.