Volvo Promises All-New XC90 Will Get "World-Class Safety and Support Features"

It may not come as a surprise to you that Volvo will be cramming all of its latest and most advanced “safety and support features” into their all-new XC90, which is set for its official debut around the end of next year, but they are.

In fact, they even put out a press release to inform us that their next flagship SUV will be getting Pedestrian Detection in darkness, road edge and barrier detection (which works on roads without side markings) and adaptive cruise control, with both of the latter two also featuring “steer assist.”

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Volvo Celebrates 60 Years of Its First Wagon, the Duett

As its name suggested, the Volvo Duett was designed to be two cars in one: a van and an estate. The Swedish brand’s first series-produced estate car, the Duett is the model that made Volvo’s hallmark wagons possible.

On July 4, 2013, the Volvo Duett celebrates its 60th anniversary, as on the same day in 1953, Volvo produced its first 445 Duett. Based on the 445 chassis, the first Duett was bought by none other than Volvo’s boss at the time, Assar Gabrielsson.

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First Videos of Heico Sportiv's Volvo V40 T5 HPC with 345-Horses, Should They Build It?

The hot hatch segment has come a very, very long way since Volkswagen wrote the first page in the segment with the original Golf GTI powered by a 108hp (110PS) 1.6-liter engine in the summer of 1976. Nowadays, we're seeing hatches with close to 50 percent more power than a Ferrari 308 GT4 from the mid-1970s…

Volvo has tried to venture in the category with a number of proposals over the years, but it never really hit the mark, something that Heico Sportiv is aiming to achieve with its latest concept that may very well enter production.

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New 345HP Volvo V40 T5 HPC Study by Heico Sportiv Eyes Mercedes A45 AMG and Audi S3

Volvo's feisty performance partner Heico Sportiv has turned the wick on the Swedish brand's V40 with the presentation of a new concept that may soon be offered to European buyers. It is named the V40 T5 HPC, which is an abbreviation for "High Performance Concept".

Heico states that it is "world’s most powerful Volvo V40" adding that the hatchback's "350 hp, 4-wheel drive and extremely dynamic driving characteristics are the ingredients that make the sporty compact car an interesting alternative to the Audi S3 Sportback, BMW M135i xDrive and Mercedes A45 AMG."

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Meet David Letterman's Volvo 960 Estate with a Ford V8 Racing Engine

Did you know that Paul Newman once commissioned a Volvo 960 with a racing V8 engine? Well, as a matter of fact, he commissioned two units, one for him and one for his racing partner David Letterman. The talk-show host still owns the car and brought it along when Jerry Seinfeld asked him to be the guest of his show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. Read more »

The Volvo of the Future Will Drop You Off and Park All by Itself [w/Video]

We’ve heard a lot about autonomous driving in recent years, but how about autonomous parking? Volvo has given this a thought and is developing the technology that will make autonomous parking a reality in the future.

A Volvo V40 prototype fitted with the technology is able to find and park in a vacant space by itself, without the driver inside. Volvo says the driverless car interacts safely and smoothly with other cars and pedestrians in the car park.

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Last of Its Kind – Watch a POV Test Drive of the Volvo C30 T5 R-Design

The C30 will definitely be missed, with its competent Ford Focus underpinnings, which made it quite a handler, solid Volvo interior and of course, the exterior design. Now, it has been pulled from the production line, without getting a direct replacement – yet.

However, it will not be forgotten by many, especially after seeing monstrous concept by Polestar, which gave the C30 all-wheel drive and 405 hp, as well as a body kit and unique shade of blue. That car was well received, and it spurred the Swedes to create the T5 M R-Design Polestar Edition, which is a toned down (but still exciting) version of the concept.

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They Don’t Make Them Like They Used to: Man Nears 3 Million Mile Mark in 1966 Volvo P1800

This is a story that will change your perception of reliability in a car. A man from Long Island called Irv Gordon (you probably remember him from a story we wrote a while ago) will soon reach 3,000,000 miles (4,828,032 km) in the same car, a 1966 Volvo P1800.

Gordon bought the car new in 1966 and the red Volvo has been his companion ever since. "It's not about getting to the three million miles; it's about the trips that got me to the three million miles," Gordon explains. "I never had a goal to get to one million, to two million. I just enjoyed driving and experiencing life through my Volvo,” he added.

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Volvo to Enter Australia's V8 Supercars Championship in 2014 [w/Video]

Volvo announced on Monday that it will have an official Volvo Polestar Racing taking part in the 2014 season of Australia's V8 Supercars Championship. Two Volvo S60 V8 Supercars will be entered in the series that starts next year.

Volvo Car Australia will join forces with Volvo Car Group's global motorsport partner Polestar and the V8 Supercars team Garry Rogers Motorsport, forming Volvo Polestar Racing Australia.

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Audi Drivers Most Likely to Cheat on Partner, Peugeot Owners the Most Loyal, Survey Finds

If a survey was commissioned to find out the most annoying passengers according to drivers, why one about cheating on one’s partner based on make of the car driven? Believe it or not, it’s real and it has been commissioned by a married dating website called Illicit Encounters, which polled its 750,000 members.

According to the responses from the users of the website, Audi owners are the most likely drivers to have an affair, with 22.2% of them saying they cheated. Premium car brands dominate the unusual ranking, with BMW drivers taking second place as most adulterous drivers (13.8 percent), followed by Mercedes-Benz (8.7 percent) and Volvo (7.6 percent).

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North American Volvo Boss Says We're Here to Stay in the U.S.

You may remember an older post we made regarding the possible US disappearance of Mitsubishi, Volvo and automotive publication Road&Track. The report / analysis we quoted argued that neither of the three (the only automotive-related brands out of their selected ten) had what it takes to continue Stateside, and it prophesized their demise within the next 18 months. Read more »

Volvo Says Goodbye to the C30 Hatchback, Last Example Up for Grabs in Twitter Competition

After seven years of production and almost 210,000 units sold, the Volvo C30 has reached the end of the road. Launched in 2006, the C30 hatchback sported an daring design that made it instantly recognizable in its class and beyond.

We’re talking mainly about the rear end, of course, which featured an all-glass hatch that was a tribute to its predecessor, the 480, itself a car inspired by the LCP 2000 concept which turned 30 this year.

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Volvo’s Advanced LCP 2000 Concept Turns 30 Years Old

The quest for advanced safety and efficiency-boosting methods has been a very powerfully driven one in recent years, with the noticeable shift in climate often being attributed to our reckless use of putrefied and liquefied dinosaur bones and trees.

However, while most manufacturers have jumped on the green train in recent years, many times for the sake of image than anything else, it was Volvo yet again that showed us the efficient way forward, more than 30 years ago.

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2014 Could Spell the End for Mitsubishi, Volvo and Road&Track in the US, Says Report

The modern business world is so competitive, that it is no longer an advantage to be one, or eight, steps ahead of the competition – it is a survival requirement. According to a report from financial news publication 24/7 Wall St., ten important brands may disappear from the US scene in the coming 18 months, three of which are automotive-related.

They say that Mitsubishi, Volvo and the Road&Track publication could bite the dust in the States due to “the brutally competitive nature of certain industries and the importance of not falling behind in efficiency, innovation or financing.”

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It's a Dud: Volvo World Premiere was a Team-up With Swedish House Mafia, Not a New Model...

As it turns out, Volvo’s recently-uploaded teaser videos concerning a "world premiere" were not proclaiming the arrival of a new crossover. In fact, it is an announcement for their team-up with DJ trio Swedish House Mafia for the creation of a music video that uses the group’s hit song “Leave the World Behind” – it will be used in the global launch campaign for the XC60, which is apparently what we saw in the photo we posted. Read more »

Volvo Almost Doubles Production of the V60 Plug-in Hybrid to Keep Up with Demand

Volvo says it is increasing production of the V60 Plug-in Hybrid by 90 percent to keep up with the demand, originating mainly from Holland, Belgium and Italy. This means that production at Volvo Cars’ Torslanda plant in Sweden will be boosted from 150 to 282 units per week. For the entire 2013, Volvo Cars will produce 7,600 plug-in hybrids, with the 2014 target being 10,000 units. Read more »

Volvo Releases Video Teasers for Mystery World Premiere, but What is it?

Volvo’s current lineup of models is satisfactory, especially after they added the V40 to the range, but by dropping of the C30 three-door hatch and S40 sedan, they could never compete with their German rivals in terms of diversity.

They need new models, and the two teaser videos posted below may be preparing us for just that. However, they are so ambiguous that they may very well be announcing a new sponsorship for their yachting effort, and we’d be none the wiser…

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Heico Sportiv Rolls Out New Volvo V40 Pirelli Special Edition

Here's something you don't see every day: a tuning company releasing a special edition model in honor of one of its partners. In this case, the tuner is Heico Sportiv, the partner is Pirelli and the car, the new Volvo V40 compact hatchback.

Heico Sportiv said it created the V40 Pirelli Edition on the occasion of Pirelli's 50 years in Germany and 110 years of tireworks in Breuberg, where the Italian tire-maker has a factory. Heico Sportiv and Pirelli have been partners since 2009.

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Volvo's All-New VEA Four-Cylinder Turbo Engines Enter Production

Marking an important milestone in the development of its brand new VEA (Volvo Engine Architecture) family of four-cylinder turbocharged gasoline and diesel powerplants, Volvo announced today that the first engine variants started production at the company's plant in Skövde, Sweden. Read more »

Woman Chased by Cops Calls 911 to Ask Trooper to "Get Off Her Back"

Well, here's one we haven't heard before. A 44-year old woman from Salt Lake County was engaged in a police chase after she refused to pull over for speeding and illegally using the emergency lane to bypass traffic. What makes this story colorful is that the woman, later on identified as Lisa Ann Bluth, called 911 and asked the dispatcher "that the trooper get off her back"!

According to KSL News, when the Utah Highway Patrol (UHP) called her back and told her that she should pull over, she told the dispatcher that she was not required to do so and that the cops had stolen her previous car and taken her blood.

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