Volvo Bowers & VVilkins speakers? If you noticed those two “V’s posing as one “W” you’re not the only one.
Many Volvo drivers are noticing that the high-end Bowers & Wilkins speakers in their luxury vehicles are not what they seem. And their outrage is driving the company to take hardline measures.
Car enthusiast Chris Pearce (@thechristopherpearce) recently reported on the situation in a post to his TikTok account. He calls it one of the “weirdest car scandals of the year.”
Pearce made his post on Tuesday. As of this writing, it has over 4000,000 views.
Volvo Bowers & VVilkins speakers
Swedish manufacturing corporation Volvo has been accused of putting counterfeit Bowers & Wilkins speakers into its vehicles, according to Pearce.
“You can usually find their speakers in luxury cars,” Pearce states. “They’re almost always a really expensive upgrade.”
“A [Chinese] Volvo S60 owner brought his car in to replace the original Bowers & Wilkins sound system because it was malfunctioning,” Pearce claims.
According to Pearce, when the driver got their car back, they noticed that the center speaker’s B&W logo had a strange typo: two “V”s instead of a “W.”
“This could all be chalked up to some manufacturing issues,” Pearce states, “but this wasn’t just one issue.”
“This is actually a trend in Chinese [manufactured] Volvos,” he says.
Pearce claims many drivers in China have reported the same issue, leading to a corporate-wide investigation. The company claims it is taking the situation “very seriously,” according to Pearce.
What did Volvo say?
According to Car Buzz, Chinese news outlet Sohu broke the original story.
“It wasn’t just the speaker that was wrong. The crystal gear selector Volvo sources from the high-end brand Orrefors was also missing something. The real Volvo [gear shift] lights up, while this car’s didn’t.”
Volvo responded via the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Company reps stated:
“Volvo Cars is taking this matter very seriously. We attach great importance to this incident, and we deeply apologize for the trouble and inconvenience caused to our customers. Volvo Cars always stands with its customers. Together we will never tolerate any behavior that harms the interests of users.”
The company also claimed it had “launched a special investigation” into the incidents. It also has a “strict full-link traceability management system for original accessories.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Volvo via email for further statement.
@thechristopherpearce Volvo accused of fake sound systems #carnews ♬ original sound – Chris Pearce
Viewers respond
Some of Pearce’s viewers thought the dealers and repair shops were more likely to be at fault than Volvo.
“Many repair shops steal the original expensive audio and put an aftermarket in. There are many stories out there where stuff like this happens,” Chester (@chester1chicken) wrote.
Another viewer commented, “Ummm, so they got a fake replacement… that’s a stretch, saying that they sell cars with fake systems. Dealerships are not the brand and it sounds like the dealership service center is the issue.”
Others were quick to praise their Volvo’s sound system.
“Volvo has always had the best sound in a factory car ever made,” one said.
Another added, “2019 Volvo V60 with B&W here in the U.S., my sound system is on full blast every day for the past 4 years, no distortion or malfunction, I def got the real one.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Pearce via email and TikTok direct message for further comment.
Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
