Volvo Cars news and reviews

Volvo Votes Paris Naughty Capital of Europe

I really want to see the behind the scenes video of this effort from Volvo. The good looking and driving Volvo S60 is at the centre of a curious marketing campaign that sees Volvo uncover which European capital (out of a pool of five) is the naughtiest. Some of the scenes look quite funny - like the guy rolling around in the flower bed - but they’re delivered in Volvo’s typical safe, staid style. Show us more of the S60 naughty side! We don’t mind seeing it get its tyres smoked.

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Volvo accidentally crashes S60 during safety demo

In an ironic twist of fate, a Volvo S60 accidentally crashed into a truck during a safety demonstration in Sweden.

The car was traveling at approximately 30 mph (48 km/h), towards a parked truck, and the collision warning system was supposed to stop the S60 before it hit the truck. Unfortunately, the system wasn't working and the S60 plowed into it.

The company later told Wired.co.uk the accident was caused by a problem with the car's battery. The company added that had person been driving, they would have realized the collision warning system wasn't working and could have taken evasive action.
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Volvo Unleashes New C30 STCC Racer

Volvo and its motorsports partner Polestar will begin this year's Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) season on 24 April at Jyllandsringen in Denmark with an updated version of their ethanol-powered C30 racer based on the facelifted production model.

The new race car gets a revised front end which is longer, lower and wider, with the Swedish automaker claiming that the new design delivers a higher ground pressure at the front, and an improved airflow right around the vehicle.

"This is the fastest Volvo I've ever driven," says Volvo Polestar driver Robert Dahlgren.

"We've worked very hard to take full advantage of the new [...]

2011 Volvo S60 Detailed Prior to Geneva Debut

Volvo has presented video, pictures and details of the all-new Volvo S60 three weeks before its scheduled coming out party at the Geneva Motor Show. As expected, the car will hit the market with a new Pedestrian Detection system that forces the car into a full stop if a collision with a person is imminent.

Although the five-minute long video shows the car cruising around downtown Los Angeles, the S60 is not expected to make its debut in the U.S. The footage only shows the car from different angles, and does not include scenes of the finalized crash prevention [...]

Volvo S60 promo video

This is a cool video from Volvo of the new S60 sedan, showing some extreme driving and the first glimpse at the interior, before its official debut at the 2010 Geneva motor show. The S60 is an updated version of the model, and will debut with engine options including GTDi petrol models, and turbocharged diesels with 1.6 and 2.0 litres. We could also see a 3.0-litre turbo model with more than 250 hp.

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First Video of the 2011 Volvo S60 Sedan on the Road and the.... Desert

It won't be long before we see the all-new Volvo S60 sedan in the flesh as the Swedish firm is planning to launch its Audi A4 and BMW 3-Series competitor at the 2010 Geneva Show in March, but just to keep us on our toes, the company has released an action video of the car on the road and the desert. It will be followed by two more promotional films by mid February.

Production of the sleek-looking four-door sedan model will start in early summer at the Volvo Cars plant in Ghent, Belgium.

Volvo hasn't issued specific details on the car that's [...]

Volvo C30 Battery Electric Vehicle to be Presented in Detroit - builds electric test fleet

During the 2010 North American International Auto Show in Detroit an all-electric Volvo C30 will be exhibited. It represents the next evolution of the brand towards clean and sustainable energies. Volvo's first C30 electric prototype was announced in September 2009. Since then modifications were made accordingly.

"The first prototype helped us identify the main technological challenges," said Lennart Stegland, Director of Volvo Cars Special Vehicles, "such as battery packaging and safety issues. We have addressed these challenges without compromising the C30's cool and fun-to-drive personality. I am very happy with the result. The electric C30 in Detroit is a much more [...]

2011 Volvo S60 Drawn on Paper by Blind Turkish Artist

Automakers and their respective marketing departments / advertising agencies come up with all sorts of ideas to generate interest in their current or future products - some successful, others not so much. For the promotion of its new 2011 S60 sedan that will be officially revealed at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2010, Volvo's Live Communication and Social Media decided to take a rather unconventional approach by calling in a blind Turkish artist named Esref Armagan to 'sample' the finished model and draw a picture of the car.

"Since the car itself is not being launched until the Geneva Motor [...]

Next-generation Volvo S60 concept interior preview

Volvo Cars has teamed up with world-famous Swedish glassworks Orrefors to work on the company’s next concept car, which will be a first taste of the next-generation Volvo S60. The joint creation, a floating centre stack of hand-made Orrefors crystal, will be shown for the first time at the Detroit international motor show in January 2009.

In the concept car, the graceful, crystal-clear centre stack forms a gentle, calm wave from the instrument panel all the way to the rear seat backrest.
“It almost looks like a waterfall from the instrument panel, flowing [...]

Volvo’s Test Drivers Show Off The New XC60 SUV

As you can see in the four new videos of the 2009 XC60 that were released by Volvo, company test drivers get to do all those fun things that SUV’s were built for but in most cases, are rarely (if never) used in that way by your typical SUV owner. The videos include a hill descent test, an elk test, a camel test and a high-speed test at 200 km/h or 124 mph.
Hill Descent Test
 
ELK Test
 
Camel Test
 
High-Speed Test
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Volvo V100 in the Works?

Back at the 2003 Geneva Motor Show Volvo presented the Versatility Concept Car (VCC), a design study that was used to demonstrate the Swedish automaker could make large cars for the premium market without any compromise in it´s core values of quality, safety and environment.

In the five years that has proceeded it, there has been little clues that Volvo would advance from the concept, but latest info surfacing from Swedish magazine Teknikens Värld claims that Volvo are indeed working on the production model with a possible unveiling in either 2010 or 2011.

The new model will slot in above the XC90 [...]

Volvo XC60 Crossover Official Details

Wagons and crossovers accounted for almost half of Volvo’s sales in the U.S. last year, so it comes as little surprise the carmaker will be adding even more of these models to its lineup in the near future. With its all-new XC60 crossover set to make its debut in Geneva next month, Volvo has finally dropped the staid boxy design of its past models and has instead adopted a much sportier and sleeker look.

The new model is claimed to be the safest Volvo ever, featuring a host of new safety technologies including the latest ‘City Safety’ automatic braking system as [...]

LEAKED: Volvo XC60 SUV Images

Last week we had reported that Volvo will be revealing the production version of its XC60 SUV at Geneva next month. Subsequently, rumours were going around that Volvo will be releasing the official images and press release of the SUV on February 20th, but it appears that the images are already spreading faster than anything through the Internet four days before the intended date.

The Volvo XC60 Concept was first shown at the 2007 Detroit Motor Show, and in the past months we have caught various test mules around which provided us a good preview of the production version. Today, the [...]

Tags: XC60, Volvo, SUV

Limited Edition Volvo C30 R-Design

 
Volvo has released an updated version of its R-Design performance accessories line for the C30 hatch range, which will only be offered to a maximum of 400 customers. Like all R-Design packs, the latest kit doesn’t offer any performance upgrades, which means top end models still get a 227hp turbocharged T5 five-cylinder engine and five-speed Geartronic transmission.

Premium touches include a matte-silver finish for the outside mirror housings, front grille surround and the Volvo logo across the front, as well as a sports bodykit, tailgate spoiler, large diameter exhaust tips and 18in Atreus wheels.

Stepping inside [...]

Volvo Closing its Ghent Factory?

Rumors have surfaced about Volvo considering closing down their factory in Ghent, Belgium. The Ghent plant, which recently achieved status as the world's first carbon-dioxide free vehicle plant, has been in operation since 1965 and between 1972 and 2006 has seen 250,000 cars produced for the US market. But now, the weak dollar makes European car production for export to the USA very difficult and allegedly threatens the Ghent's plant operations according to AutoMotorSport.se.

Volvo CEO, Fredrik Arp, over the summer stated, "...production in the US is not on the table, but we have a close look at the situation all [...]