DETROIT, Sep 25, 2000 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Volvo says it will launch its new S60 sedan through advertising on the Internet service America Online rather than on television.

Volvo said high advertising costs during the run-up to the November presidential election led the subsidiary of the Ford Motor Co. to make the change. Ford also has stopped producing television advertisements during the Screen Actors Guild strike against the advertising industry.

The deal with AOL, which has an estimated 24 million subscribers, is unique in the auto industry because carmakers rely heavily on television to whet consumer appetites for new models.

Phil Bienert, manager of consumer relations and e-business for Volvo's North American sales arm, said Volvo was abiding by the parent company advertising policy. He said, however, that the actors strike was not the reason Volvo decided on the AOL launch for the S60.

"We know that 85 percent of our customer are online," he said. "This is just catering to them."

Under the deal, Volvo will buy banner ads throughout AOL and offer AOL subscribers free options valued at up to $2,100 on the S60, which has a base price of $26,500. The ads will link to a Volvo Web site, where the company will sponsor a giveaway of 10 S60s and trips to Sweden.

AOL also will feature Volvo on the "splash screen" that subscribers see when they first sign on. The ads will begin Oct. 9. The car goes on sale Nov. 1.

Bienert declined to say how much the deal with AOL would cost but did say it would not be less than what would have been spent for a traditional TV campaign outside the highly competitive political season.

"You're competing with George W. Bush and Al Gore, and those guys have more money than any of us," Bienert said.

Volvo will resume advertising in print or on television after January.

Volvo: http://www.revolvolution.com