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Volvo is still not for sale, says a report from Autocar magazine, despite some Swedish workers calling for the brand to change hands and despite losses from the upscale carmaker.
Autocar says, as sources have suggested for the past year, that Volvo's product plan is a sore point at
Ford, which had expected
Volvo to underpin its growth in the luxury sector. But, rather than sell
Volvo off to a Russian or Chinese interest,
Ford will try once again to squeeze more volume and some profit out of the automaker, which it bought in 1999 for $6 billion.
Part of the new plan could be pitching the brand against premium mainstream brands like
Volkswagen, instead of reaching to compete with the likes of
BMW and
Mercedes. It could also include a reworked range of less expensive vehicles with bigger volumes.
Ford seeks to boost
Volvo volumes from 420,000 units a year to 600,000. Recent losses at the Swedish branch of the
Ford empire have impacted launches of vehicles like the new
2009 Volvo XC60 crossover, which according to Autocar was developed outside of similarly-sized crossovers from
Land Rover and
Ford.
Autocar says
Ford has been open to offers for
Volvo, and China's Chery has been one of the most interested acquirers.
Posted in : Volvo
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Volvo has teamed up with pet-friendly Web site BarkBuckleUP to promote in-car pet safety.
Christina Selter, the founder of
BarkBuckleUP, and
Volvo hit the recent
New York auto show armed with facts about the dangers of driving with unsecured pets. Most people buckle up in order to save lives, Selter says, but not much thought is given to traveling pets.
"In fact, less then 2 percent of American pet parents actually utilize a pet restraint system. After an accident, first responders often have little time to access injured occupants and pets pose a unique set of problems we never thought about," Selter said in a release.
BarkBuckleUP says the possible injury to the pet is just the most obvious pet safety issue. Pets, like people, become projectiles in an accident; a larger dog in the car with you can transform into about 3,000 pounds of deadly force, enough to kill it and a human passenger. Pets in cars also can be a danger for rescue personnel who may fear the pet will attack, especially if it's injured. Unrestrained pets also could run into the road, causing even more problems, and involving even more people.
Daniel Johnston, Product Communications,
Volvo Cars of North America stated that
Volvo believes the BarkBuckleUP campaign will help educate consumers on how pets can cause accidents, cause more harm in accidents, and how it is inherently safer for them to be buckled up.
Posted in : 2008, Driving, Shoppers, Volvo
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The
2008-2009 Volvo Ocean Race starts on October 4--and the Swedish brand will prime the marketing pump for the sporting competition with a new trio of limited-edition
wagons.
The
Volvo V70,
Volvo XC70 and
Volvo XC90 will now be trimmed out as Ocean Race editions, and will be available in Ocean Blue and Electric Silver paint.
Volvo says it chose these colors to reflect the essence of an active lifestyle, adventure and passion; "the very things
Volvo Cars believes their customers value in a vehicle," according to Lennart Stegland, president of Special Vehicles at
Volvo.
Nautical-themed interiors (available in soft beige or offblack) accompany the special paint. The detailed interiors use materials straight from ocean racing rigs wherever possible, be it the similar stitching to that of a sail or the detail on the mats designed to look like a clew. Special edition wheels are designed to emulate the movement of a wave, and exterior aluminum accents nicely complete the package.
Volvo first organized the Ocean Race in 2001-2002. Since then, the special edition cars have been successful for
Volvo. The company sold a total of 8,600 Ocean Race
wagons during the 2005-2006 race, split between the V70, X70, and XC90.
This year's Ocean Race will consist of 10 legs, racing from Spain to Sweden by way of Singapore.
The new Ocean Race vehicles hit dealerships in June of this year, and
Volvo expects to send 9000 of them out to customers.
Posted in : 2008, Crossover Vehicles, Shoppers, Sport-Utility Vehicles, Volvo
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Volvo Cars of North America has announced that the limited edition C30 R-design will be available in April and priced at $25,700, not including destination.
The C30 R-Design is a striking version of the new
C30 hatchback. A car tweaked like this new version has to have the power to back up the tuned look, and the C30 R-Design has just that--a 227-horsepower engine that produces 236 ft-lb of torque. It's a version of the 2.5-liter turbo five-cylinder that makes 218 hp in lesser C30s.
Four exterior colors--Black Sapphire, Titanium Grey, Orinoco Blue, and Passion red--make the car hard to miss. With a sport body kit and matte silver mirror housings, Volvo’s new “R-Design” badge seems to set out on the right foot.
The sporty feel of the car carries over to the interior. Black Flex-tech seats trimmed in cream-colored leather trim out the four-place cabin. The steering wheel and shifter are also trimmed in leather, and sport pedals are fitted to replace the stock ones.
Options on the car include DVD-based navigation, a power glass moonroof, and a Dynaudio premium sound system.
Posted in : 2008, Hatchbacks, Shoppers, Volvo
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Last year we brought you the skinny on
the new XC70,
Volvo's mid-size crossover vehicle. We liked its newly toughened exterior and its city-friendly responses. But of course, we thought a little more power would help burnish its image even more.
Wish granted: for the 2009 model year,
Volvo says it's applying turbocharging to the XC70's in-line six-cylinder engine. The basics of the smooth new engine haven't changed, but the displacement has shrunk a bit, from 3.2 liters to 3.0 liters, along wiht the addition of turbocharging.
Volvo says the next power from the newly blown engine is 281 hp and 295 pound-feet, up 60 hp and 59 lb-ft from the base XC70. That's enough to make the new T6 version the performance flagship of the XC70 range.
A six-speed automatic is the sole transmission. All XC70 turbos come with all-wheel drive, and good-to-have off-road features like hill descent control, which uses the anti-lock brakes to control power when descending a steep grade. Other available goodies include the nifty integral child seat in the second-row bench that's featured on the standard XC70.
The turbo model goes on sale this fall;
Volvo hasn't priced it yet.
Posted in : 2009, Crossover Vehicles, Shoppers, Volvo
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Volvo is still not for sale, says a report from Autocar magazine, despite some Swedish workers calling for the brand to change hands and despite losses from the upscale carmaker.;)
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