Volvo News
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Production of the Volvo S60 finally came to an end last month, marking the end of a eight year product cycle that saw more than 580,000 cars roll off the line at the car’s Ghent factory in Belgium. To celebrate this milestone and clear any remaining stock before the all-new model arrives next year, Volvo will be releasing a very limited number of well-equipped S60 ‘SE’ models. Designed exclusively for the U.S., the 2009 Volvo S60 SE will be available in only one specification and will be priced from $30,950 for the FWD model and $32,750 for the AWD version. Just 880 Volvo...
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Volvo reveals pricing for new XC60 3.2 in U.S.Crossovers are the new wagons, according to popular wisdom, but at Volvo the heritage is clearly visible. Its wagon-like crossovers in the XC line have met with great success in the U.S., together with the various wagon lines accounting for about half of the company's sales in recent years. The...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Volvo may receive lifeline from Belgian governmentDespite Volvo being a Swedish company, the trouble-stricken carmaker may have to look to the Belgian government for financial aid to help keep it on its feet. Volvo currently operates a plant in the Flanders region of Belgium, and the Flemish Premier Kris Peeters has been in talks with Volvo CEO...
Jeremy Weber -
‘Volvo - The Game’ now available for downloadMany carmakers have ventured into the field of video games, from the Gran Turismo and Need for Speed series to one-off games made for the iPhone and other platforms. Volvo is now joining those ranks with a new game to promote the S60 Concept as well as its racing efforts. Some of the other vehicles...
Nelson Ireson -
Modern day Volvo P1800 envisaged by Koenigsegg engineerKoenigsegg and Volvo may be worlds apart in terms of the cars they build, but the two companies do have one thing in common - engineer and petrol head Mattias Vöx. The Koenigsegg engineer shares a love for both marques, and his work with the Swedish supercar company has allowed him to take on some...
Jeremy Weber -
Volvo cuts XC90 pricing by 8% for 2009The poor car market has led many carmakers to take drastic action with their workforces, to ask for government assistance or to offer unprecedented incentives, but so far most carmakers haven't taken the knife to their base pricing. Volvo bucks the trend today by cutting the price of their XC90 SUV...
Alex Kaufmann -
Late last week Steve Mattin decided to leave his job as Volvo's design guru, and already the company has found a replacement in the form of Peter Horbury. The new design director will take up his pencil on May 1. Horbury comes fresh from the same position - executive director of design - at Ford, though his previous seat had him at the head of the now-defunct Premier Automotive Group (PAG), which included Aston Martin, Volvo, Jaguar and Land Rover. Before that he spent 11 years as the design director at Volvo from 1991 to 2002. So in a way, Horbury is merely returning home. "We are very happy...
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Heico Sportiv upgrades full Volvo XC60 lineupSpecialist Volvo tuner Heico Sportiv has just come out with what it’s claiming is the world's first complete upgrade program for the Volvo XC60. The program alters both the internal and external features of the car, with various engine upgrades for the different trim levels of the XC60. When...
Alex Kaufmann -
Steve Mattin, designer of Volvo S60 Concept, leaves companySwedish media are reporting today that Steve Mattin, Volvo's design director, is leaving the company. The departure marks the end of a four-year tenure during which time Mattin was responsible for designs including the 2010 XC60 and the highly controversial S60 Concept shown a this year's Detroit...
Nelson Ireson -
Volvo phases out S60 sedan in lead up to all-new modelProduction of the Volvo S60 is coming to an end as the current model will soon be phased out in the lead up to an all-new model due next year. Production of the car at Volvo’s plant in Ghent, Belgium, is scheduled to end next month, marking the end of a eight year product cycle that saw more...
Kenneth Hall -
Report: Volvo planning four-cylinder only lineupWe all know carmakers are downsizing their engines and embracing efficient technologies, but one company is going further than just offering a few hybrid models in their lineup to please the greenies. Anonymous sources at Volvo have confirmed that in the near future, the Swedish carmaker will...
Jeremy Weber -
First Volvo S80L long-wheelbase sedans roll off the line in ChinaLast November Volvo announced it would release a long-wheelbase version of the S80 sedan for the Chinese market, and today that car has begun sales. There are no expectations the car will be available outside of China, following a trend of other carmakers in building unique limos for the country...
Jeremy Weber -
With the Geneva Motor Show just past it seems like the market experiencing a glut of special-edition cars at the moment, but Volvo has decided to add another to heap: the UK-market Ice White C70. The unique trim and appearance package for the hardtop coupe-convertible promises 'aspirational' looks. The C70 coupe-convertible at the core of the Ice White package is a standard 2.0D S model. The diesel engine lends a solid layer of efficiency to the car, but unfortunately rules it out for U.S. buyers, since we don't get the diesel C70 here. The rest of the package features a unique Ice White...
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Report: Chinese government gives Chery Auto approval for Volvo acquisitionFord is having trouble offloading its failing Volvo subsidiary but the company is determined to sell it and has already started approaching potential buyers in spite of the tough economic conditions. The Blue Oval has been in talks with a number of potential suitors in the recent past, and the...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Bob Lutz: Saab and Volvo should mergeSwedish carmakers Saab and Volvo are in a similar predicament. One is owned by struggling Detroit carmaker General Motors and the other by Ford, and both are being spun-off from their respective parent companies in light of significant losses over the past couple of years. For Saab, GM simply cut...
Ralph Hanson -
Volvo refreshes S80 saloon for 2010 model yearThe second-generation Volvo S80 saloon was first introduced for sale back in 2006 and hasn’t seen many major alterations since then except for the introduction of a long-wheelbase version for the Chinese market late last year. That’s all set to change as Volvo has announced plans for a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Sweden promises €445 million in loan guarantees to VolvoThe solipsism of American media has a way of quietly filtering out much of the rest of the world, but the car industry is in a pinch just about everywhere. Nowhere is that picture clearer than in Sweden where ailing carmakers Saab and Volvo have been seeking government aid for months. Today word...
Nelson Ireson -
Volvo adds four more cars to efficient DRIVe lineup in GenevaSlashing the cost of ownership is a good strategy in today's car market, especially in Europe where emissions taxes are a large part of the yearly expense. Volvo's DRIVe line of cars, expanded with four more models today, is therefore not just smart in an environmental sense, but a business sense...
Nelson Ireson -
Diesel is the way of the present in Europe, and to hear some tell it, it's the future for the U.S. as well. Either way, Volvo will be prepared with two new diesels announced in detail today. The D5 five-cylinder diesel was announced for the S80 sedan back in January, but now full details on both new diesels and the cars they'll be used in have been released. The only commonality between the new D5 and the outgoing mill are the D5 badge and five-cylinder configuration. The new engine is Euro 5 compliant and will be available for sale in Europe from the middle of the year. With innovative...
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Detroit 3 looking to Asia for brand salesTough times are a unifying theme of the economic and sales reports of the last six months, especially in the car industry. Finding ways to pull itself up by the bootstraps is proving harder than imagined by some, but the effort is pushing the Detroit 3 to consider a window of opportunity in Asia...
Ralph Hanson -
Report: Chery considering bid for VolvoAmerica's car-market troubles are well-known and much belabored of late, but China's automotive industry isn't facing such a dire situation. In January, China's total car sales overtook America's for the first time, and many of the constituent companies, such as Chery, are looking outside China to...
Nelson Ireson -
Volvo C30 ‘Racer’ envisaged by Sweden’s VizualtechVizualtech, a Swedish design firm that specializes in constructing virtual 3D models of cars and boats, has just released a new set of images of a race-inspired Volvo C30 hatch. The focus when designing the car was to create something that could compete in the DTM touring car series or possibly a...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Volvo pulls out of 2009 Tokyo Motor ShowThe Japan Automobile Manufacturers' Association (JAMA) is still deciding whether or not to cancel this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, currently scheduled for October, but with a string of carmakers confirming their non-attendance the show’s current status is looking grim. America’s...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
Volvo reinstates free maintenance on new carsFree maintenance programs were once de rigeur for the upper ranks of the automobile industry, but the service has been dying a slow death with brands like Mercedes-Benz and Audi abandoning their programs. BMW and Saab kept theirs however, and Volkswagen recently announced the start of free...
Nelson Ireson