Volvo Cars and toy manufacturer Viking Toys have launched a playful collaboration - Volvo cars for the youngest members of the family. The XC90, Volvo XC70 and Volvo C30 will be produced in soft, safe and durable plastic in the classic colours yellow, red, green and blue.
Nowadays, it is standard procedure that each time Volvo Cars introduces a new model, model cars in various sizes are also produced. However, they are collectors' items, not toys.
There have never been toy versions of Volvo cars for the youngest children before.
Pontus Berger, who is in charge of licensing model cars at VCC, got in touch with Viking Toys to change that situation.
Viking Toys' CEO, Gösta Kjellme, liked the idea and initiated development work. Viking Toys' designer Björn Alskog was given the task of designing the Volvo XC70 and XC90 in a typical Viking Toys-style.
However, the Viking Toys' version of the Volvo C30 has been designed by Simon Lamarre at Volvo Cars. Simon Lamarre is the man behind the exterior design of the "full-sized" Volvo C30.
"Many of today's children are familiar with and play with Viking Toys' cars at home and at their day-care centres. This makes it all the more enjoyable for us to be able to offer these well-made products with an unmistakable Volvo design," says Pontus Berger.
Viking Toys' concept is to make soft, safe, high-quality cars for the youngest children, from the age of 1 and above. The products must be so safe that a child cannot pull off parts and put them in his/her mouth. All materials are guaranteed to be free of harmful chemicals.
Toy cars from Viking Toys are sold in 50 countries and have been on the market for 35 years. The company produces between 3.5-4 million cars a year. They are sold in retail outlets and a great number of day-care centres also purchase the products.
The toy cars will start to be sold from November, December 2008.
