Mayor chooses Volvo for 2012

LORD Mayor of Dublin, Andrew Montague, has chosen the
Volvo S80 DRIVe as the official Mayoral car for 2012.

Tradition dictates that the city’s first citizen has
the first car registered in the capital each year for use as transport for
official engagements. And Mayor Montague has picked the low emission Swedish
car as his motor of choice.

Executive Manager in the Office of the Lord Mayor,
Vincent Norton, explained the reason behind the decision.

“In his official capacity the Lord Mayor of Dublin
represents the capital at many events and it is important that an appropriate
vehicle is available to transport him around the city of Dublin and country,

?
he said.

“It is also important that the impact of the vehicle
is minimised in both financial and environmental terms. The council is
delighted that Volvo are prepared to offer such a luxury, energy efficient car
to the Lord Mayor at no cost to the city.

“The Volvo S80 provides the perfect blend of a luxury
executive vehicle which in the DRIVe version offers an incredibly low emission
diesel engine that falls into the lowest emissions band.

?

Managing Director of Volvo Car Ireland, David
Baddeley, said the company was delighted to support the Lord Mayor with the new
car.

“It is a visible endorsement of the unique combination
of executive luxury and very low environmental impact that the Volvo DRIVe
range provides, including the Volvo S80,

? he said.

“The fact that Volvo is the European car manufacturer
which has achieved the greatest reduction in CO2 in the last 12 months
influenced the decision in favour of Volvo.

?

Volvo’s safety reputation is well known and the latest
versions of the Volvo S80 are fitted with a system using cameras and lasers to
identify stationary or slow moving city traffic as standard.

If the driver doesn’t react in time the car will
automatically apply the brakes, eliminating low speed shunts under 30km per
hour or reducing the severity of higher speed accidents.

The Lord Mayor’s car for 2012 is a Volvo S80 DRIVe SE
Lux, with the added benefit of the Volvo Drivers Support Pack which combines a
number of safety and driving aids including BLIS (Blind Spot Information
System), lane departure warning and adaptive cruise control with full autobrake.

The car, which is in Black Sapphire Metallic, is also
specified with soft leather upholstery and heated front and rear seats in
addition to all the usual executive features you would expect.

With emissions of just 119g/ km (Band A for VRT and
road tax) and fuel consumption of 62.8 mpg (combined cycle) the Volvo S80 DRIVe
is fitted with a 1.6 litre diesel engine optimised for low CO2.

The DRIVe badge (pronounced Drive-e) is used on any
Volvo car with class leading environmental performance. There are DRIVe
variants of the Volvo S40, V50, S60, V60, S80, V70, XC60 and XC70 ranges.