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Fifty keen locals are the test pilots for the new Volvo S60 Polestar and if they are happy then the car will be pushed out to the rest of the world.
There is also the promise of more hot rod cars to come as Volvo develops its Polestar partner as a new Mercedes-AMG or BMW M division. It already does big business in go-faster parts for the XC60 and S60 models.
"This is a proper pilot program. Australia is first. The world is watching," the managing director of Polestar, Hans Baath, says at the preview of the S60 Polestar in Brisbane this week.
"Most importantly, today we take the step of launching our first car. It is, for us, a giant step."
It's also a big move for Volvo and the most significant performance push in Australia, at least in road cars, since the unsuccessful effort with the quick-but-boxy 740 Turbo.
It's accompanied by an entry in the V8 Supercars championship from 2014, with a pair of V8-powered Volvo racers to be fielded by Garry Rogers Motorsport and fitted with lookalike S60 bodywork.
Volvo has been involved in motor racing in Australia at different times, way back to the 1980s when it won the Touring Car Championship with a 240 Turbo, and more recently in Sweden and the UK.
But the Polestar development is about selling cars, not just trying to shift the brand's image away from its safety-first focus.
Polestar already sells performance parts to 50 countries, including power upgrades for its the four-cylinder turbo engines which are the company's global focus.
It only has a staff of 35 people but is plugged directly into Volvo's development centre for work on engines, chassis and bodywork.
The decision to bring the Polestar S60 to Australia first was an easy one, according to Baath. "Choosing Australia was quite simple for us. It's a country were the car is a vital part of everyday life. There is a huge car culture here. The decision wasn't difficult," he says. "Naturally we hope it's not going to end with this."
Also Polestar is being compared with M and AMG, Baath says Volvo is taking a different approach. "The focus is on optimising the car for dynamic driving. Not just for the ultimate numbers," he says. "It's a complete car. To balance the handling, power and transmission. So that it works everywhere. You could compare us to M and AMG, but in terms of car philosophy we'd prefer to be compared to a company like RenaultSport."
The Polestar S60 is not cheap at just on $110,000, but Volvo says eight of the 50 cars are already sold and there is strong interest.
But managing director Matt Braid says it's not just about selling a single batch of cars. "We really want to get the feedback. If this is successful, we want to see the other opportunities," he says.
This reporter is on Twitter: @paulwardgover
