With Volvo now firmly in the hands of China's Geely (0175.HK, GELYY), any final word on the brand is assumed to rest with Geely Chairman Li Shufu.

But if Volvo Cars' new Chief Executive Stefan Jacoby gets his way, there could be a revival of the Volvo Amazon, a beloved Swedish mid-size car manufactured by Volvo from the mid-1950s and throughout the 1960s, as a 'retro car' as part of an effort to reinvigorate Volvo.

'That's one of my all-time top favorite cars,' said Jacoby in a telephone interview. Jacoby--a German-born, self-proclaimed 'car guy' and Volkswagen AG's (VOW.XE, VLKAY) former U.S. chief--officially started at Volvo Cars on Monday as CEO. Geely purchased Volvo for $1.8 billion, including a $200 million note and the balance in cash, and named Jacoby.

Whether Jacoby is going to be allowed to do a modern version of the Amazon, which was available in three body styles (two-door sedan, four-door sedan and station wagon), is a matter of debate. Chairman Li is known as a hands-on manager and clearly has his own ideas as to how to redefine Volvo to revive the brand--including adding bigger and more luxurious cars to Volvo's product lineup.

In the interview, Jacoby alluded to the success Volkswagen AG and BMW AG (BMW.XE) achieved in injecting more emotion into their respective brand by coming up with modern renditions of the Beetle for VW and the Mini Cooper for BMW.

'Definitely that's one way to put Volvo into a sharper focus,' he said.

The Amazon's influence can already be seen in today's Volvo cars, especially in the Volvo V70. Like the Amazon station wagon, the V70 features pronounced 'shoulders' and slight but visible tailfins.

Jacoby stressed these are still early days for him as Volvo Cars CEO and he has 'no specific answers or solutions' as to how he might go about putting Volvo into a sharper focus. But coming up with a modern version of the Amazon is 'a strategy to emotionalize a brand,' he said. 'The genes of those cars could be continued into today's cars.'

Norihiko Shirouzu

• firmly [´fə:mli] ad.坚固地，稳定地 (初中英语单词)
• executive [ig´zekjutiv] a.行政的 n.行政官 (初中英语单词)
• beloved [bi´lʌvd] a.为....所爱的 n.爱人 (初中英语单词)
• interview [´intəvju:] n.&vt.接见；会见；交谈 (初中英语单词)
• available [ə´veiləbəl] a.可用的；有效的 (初中英语单词)
• debate [di´beit] n.&v.讨论，辩论 (初中英语单词)
• manager [´mænidʒə] n.经理；管理人；干事 (初中英语单词)
• emotion [i´məuʃən] n.感情；情绪；激动 (初中英语单词)
• visible [´vizəbəl] a.可见的；明显的 (初中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• revive [ri´vaiv] v.(使)苏醒；(使)振奋 (高中英语单词)
• beetle [´bi:tl] n.甲虫 vi.忙碌地来回 (高中英语单词)
• pronounced [prə´naunst] a.发出音的；显著的 (高中英语单词)
• specific [spi´sifik] a.具体的；特有的 (高中英语单词)
• revival [ri´vaivəl] n.苏醒；复活；复兴 (英语四级单词)
• amazon [´æməzən] n.女战士 (英语四级单词)
• swedish [´swi:diʃ] a.瑞典人 n.瑞典语 (英语四级单词)
• version [´və:ʃən, ´və:rʒən] n.翻译；说明；译本 (英语四级单词)
• luxurious [lʌg´zjuəriəs] a.奢侈的；豪华的 (英语四级单词)
• respective [ri´spektiv] a.各自的，各个的 (英语四级单词)
• cooper [´ku:pə] v.&n.制桶工人；修桶工人 (英语六级单词)
• strategy [´strætidʒi] n.兵法；战略 (英语六级单词)