Did somebody say offroad?
Edit: Forgot to swap wheels, oops. Guess we have to wait to reviews to see them.
“Malmo Gives You More”. That was the advertising campaign for the Avstånd. AMM’s adverts highlighted all of the things which AMM could have done to cut costs, but didn’t. In their television adverts, a serious presenter highlighted the fact that, as a light duty truck, AMM didn’t need to provide safety equipment in the Avstånd. Legally, they didn’t need to provide lap belts, or air bags, or a collapsible steering column, or intertia switches on the engine and fuel pump. They didn’t need to meet emissions requirements either, and they could have made the Avstånd put out as many pollutants as possible. According to the lawyers, a light duty truck could, from a purely regulatory standpoint, be a smoggy deathtrap, and AMM would be immune from litigation. Of course, Malmo Gives You More - so those safety features are all implemented as standard in every vehicle sold by AMM, including their light duty trucks. Their entire fleet features certifications of emissions standards, as well. Now, AMM’s lawyers prevent this serious presenter naming any competitors or making claims about other trucks on the market - but would you really want to die in a crash, because your cheaper truck didn’t have to comply with safety rules?
Malmo continues its habit of safe, driveable vehicles. The Avstånd is an offroad-oriented, work-focussed car available in both single and crew-cab variants - although the crew variant is shown here. Hypereutectic pistons on the inline six keep emissions well under control, while a 4x4 system with manual locker and an offroad skidplate allows the truck to be taken just about anywhere. The suspension is soft enough for bumpy offroad trails, but stiff enough to have a 2 tonne (metric) load capacity. It certainly doesn’t come cheap, but it’s probably worth it. Probably.
The Fate (or should that be F8?) Of The Familj
The Familj was considered a somewhat surprising success for AMM, and one which they took a lot of notes from. As a pleasant and somewhat desirable passenger car, AMM decided to continue production in somewhat small volumes, keeping a couple on-hand in most dealerships just in case. Once the van craze hit, AMM largely… ignored it, in all honesty. The official position was that these were truly wonderful vans, and that they were happy for their cars to be enjoyed, but that custom vans were, well, custom. They certainly couldn’t compete and make unique cars - instead, they just kept selling the vans, and making spare parts available. Sure, some spare parts became a little more available, and some schematics “accidentally” leaked to the public, but AMM never really tried to compete or imitate those custom vans - and they were probably all the better for it.