2017 Geneva International Motor Show: New cars galore

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As arguably the most important international auto show, the Geneva International Motor Show will this year offer its usual complement of debuts and concepts in the ever-changing automotive industry. The year’s show, scheduled March 9-19, will be held in its traditional neutral location, the Palexpo in Geneva next to the international airport. Here’s a list of some of the manufacturers’ offerings in alphabetical order: Audi — The 400-horsepower RS3 Sportback debuts. Dendrobium — It’s a new hypercar from Singapore. Ferrari — The Superfast, with its 800 horsepower V112, will debut with plenty of fanfare. Kia — Say hello to tiniest

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2020 Cadillac XT6 worthy newbie, won’t alter buying trends

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Cadillac entered the sport utility vehicle segment 21 years ago to compete with several luxury rivals new in the family mover revolution. It’s now further expanding its presence in a saturated SUV segment with the 2020 Cadillac XT6. It’s the manufacturer’s first three-row crossover, joining the stately, apartment-sized Cadillac Escalade. It has three rows of seating as a truck-based SUV about weight 1,200 pounds more than its new sedan-like smaller sibling. Cadillac’s debut in the class — the Audi Q7, Acura MDX, Lincoln Navigator, Mercedes-Benz GLE and Volvo XC90 are main rivals — is presented refreshingly. It has only two

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2022 Volvo XC90 challenges German rivals

Volvo may hold an unofficial title. It’s the manufacturer with the most improved vehicles, appearance to performance, including the 2022 XC90 Once boxy, plain slow and staid, Volvo remains unheralded in the United States. But its market share in 2021 was 4.2 percent, its best since the manufacturer began selling cars in the U.S. in 1959. Sales increased by 12.6 percent from 2020 to 2021. The major reasons include the carmaker’s complete transition. Its fleet, paced but the XC90 sport utility vehicle, is upscale, inside and outside. Top-level materials, a smooth, handsome design and continued top safety ranking pushed Volvo

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Volvo Awarded International Safety Honor

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Volvo, the Swedish manufacturer known its durable and safety-oriented vehicles, has received an international award for its commitment to preventing accidents. Volvo’s in-house developed technology for avoiding low-speed collisions has been awarded the American “Traffic Safety Achievement Award” at this year’s World Traffic Safety Symposium in New York Volvo will be the first manufacturer to install its low-speed safety technology, called City Safety, as standard equipment in a vehicle. It will be available later this year in the XC60, the first Volvo with the feature. According to Volvo, approximately 75 percent of all collisions are at speeds less than 18

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Volvo, Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz dominate 2012 safest cars list

With its auto content, Forbes.com likes lists. Its current offering, like much of its other car content, is subjective — the safest 2012 cars. Infiniti, Mercedes-Benez and Volvo, with three selections, dominate the list. The subjectiveness of the list is not a criticism. It's subjective via the criteria used to make its choices, which, seem like the right criteria. One of the strongest considerations is the designation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). For 2012, a total of 69 cars, 38 SUVs and three pickups made the non-profit's Top Safety Picks list, including 18 new recipients. To qualify

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Volvo S60, 2012: Still sturdy, safe (and now) sporty after all these years

Introduced 12 years ago as the carmaker's first major departure in a few decades from its box-on-wheels reputation, the Volvo S60 is now in its second generation. The 2012 edition is offered in three trims, including the most-sports-car-like Volvo yet, the S60 T6 AWD R SR. That's a lot of numbers and letters for a model. But what the alphabet soup name means for potential buyers is 325 horsepower, a turbo-charged six-cylinder engine with a six-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. The R means "R-Design Elements" and that translates into the car's sportiness with a handful of features — 18-inch

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2013 Volvo T5 S60: Sporty, quick-steering, traditionally solid, safe

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Some may still think the 2013 Volvo S60 T5 sedan is among the first sporty Volvos sold in the United States because of the automaker’s long-lingering stodgy image. Volvo actually has built several sporty cars since it offered its conservatively styled 1956-58 PV444 family model here, complete with a strong dual-carburetor engine and a stick shift with a floor shifter. It was a practical auto, but could beat sports cars on race tracks. However, most sporty Volvos have flown under the general public’s radar. It generally was known as a conservative model with a heavy emphasis on safety features. The

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2019 Volvo XC40 breaks tradition for younger buyers

When competition includes models from BMW (X1), Mercedes-Benz (GLA-Class), Jaguar (E-Pace) and Audi (Q3), Volvo had to do something different. It has. Welcome the 2019 Volvo XC40. The new compact crossover is the Swedish manufacturer’s smallest, sportiest and least expensive SUV. It’s positioned in the lineup as an alternative to the well-respected XC90 and XC60. The base trim, called the XC Momentum, is a misnomer. It has five drive modes and a host of safety and technical features that would qualify it as an upscale model from many manufacturers. The turbocharged two-liter engine produces 248 horsepower and is matched with

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Volvo, Tesla get Consumer Reports’ dubious reliability honors

Consumer Reports has long been recognized for its reliability to compile and present objective information. So who’s better than the service-oriented publication to provide lists of the most reliable and least reliable automakers? The publication’s annual reliability survey analyzed data in 17 areas from more than 500,000 vehicles. The areas for potential problems included interior wear-and-tear, transmission repairs and squeaky brakes. The annual list usually has surprises and this year is no exception. Volvo was the least reliable career in this year tabulations. The reason: The Swedish-made, Chinese-owned manufactured dropped six places from last year and had an average reliability

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2019 Infiniti QX50: New generation, no more malaise

Less than 20 years ago, the term compact luxury sport utility vehicle wasn’t part of the automotive lexicon. Now, it’s the most popular top-line segment of the industry with about 600,000 new people movers selling in 2018. It’s also among the most competitive markets in the industry with the new generation Infiniti QX50 joined by Acura, Audi, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and others for 2019. Total sales in the segment increased by about 20 percent last year from 2017. Key Takeaways Industry-first Variable Compression Turbo engine: The 2.0-liter four-cylinder VC-Turbo adjusts its compression ratio on the fly, delivering 268 horsepower

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2020 Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 paces luxury SUVs

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Mercedes-Benz may be the most diverse vehicle manufacturer. It introduced gull-wing race cars and station wagons in the 1950s, about 30 years after the brand debuted. The enduring carmaker’s modern-day sedans still define automotive maturity. The marque also made a hybrid in 1906 and it customized sedans in the 1930s with bullet-proof windows for the WWII German regime. With the 2020 GLC 300, one of its nine sport utility vehicle options, Mercedes-Benz is also at the forefront of the luxury people mover market. It’s the carmaker’s youngest segment; SUVs have been part of the brand since 1997. As a five-passenger,

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Volkswagen ID.4 first electric vehicle to claim world honors

COLLABORATIVE CONTENT Volkswagen can rejoice. Its flagship electric vehicle, the ID.4, is the World Car of the Year 2021. The stylish sport utility claimed the honor, voted upon by 93 automotive experts from 28 countries. Volkswagen claimed its fifth overall title and won this year against thr BMW 4 Series, Honda e and Mercedes Benz GLA. Previous Volkswagen Car of the Year award winner included the Golf Mk. 6 (2009), Polo (2010), up! (2012) and Golf Mk. 7 (2013) marking a pattern of Volkswagen usually winning five times in 13 years. Ralf Brandstatter, Volkswagen CEO, Ralf Brandstatter, commented: “We are

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2022 BMW X4 M: It’s an SUV race car but why?

The 2022 BMW X4 M and the more powerful X4 M Competition are siblings among a handful of vehicles competing in the high-performance sport utility vehicle niche. It’s a difficult automotive segment to fathom. What’s the purpose of a family-oriented vehicle with 503 horsepower and acceleration from zero-to-60 miles per hour in 3.3 seconds? Key Takeaways 503-hp performance SUV questions its own existence: The X4 M Competition delivers supercar acceleration (0-60 in 3.3 seconds) in a family vehicle, but the reviewer finds the performance largely impractical for real-world driving. Highway excellence, city compromise: Open-road composure is a BMW forte here,

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Volvo maintains reputation for safety, innovation in 2011

Founded in 1927 in Gothenberg, Sweden, Volvo (Swedish for “I roll”) manufactures sport utility vehicles to sedans, coupes to compacts — all featuring the carmakers’ emphasis on safety. Volvo has introduced numerous new automotive technologies throughout its tenure, most notably laminated glass (1944), padded dash boards (1956), three-point safety belt (1959) central high-mounted stoplight (1986) and side impact airbags (1994). During the 1960s, the P1800 sports car debuted and Volvo received international attention when actor Roger Moore in the television series The Saint drove it. But the carmaker was also at the safety forefront during the decade when it introduced

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2021 Lexus UX 200: little SUV big on value

Unveiled at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show, the Lexus UX 200 is the upscale Toyota brand’s newest sport utility vehicle. It’s a subcompact crossover smaller than its NX sibling. The 2021 edition receives a few minor upgrades and tweaks. Small even by sub-compact SUV standards, the Lexus UX 200 is available in Base, Luxury and F-Sport trims. It has a close relative in the UX 250 hybrid. Key Takeaways Smallest Lexus SUV punches above its size: The UX 200 feels bigger than its subcompact profile suggests, with athletic handling and precise steering through mountain roads and city traffic. Sluggish acceleration

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2022 Lexus NX 350h: Improved SUV drives well, looks ugly

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The 2022 Lexus NX 350h is an automotive dichotomy. Now in its second generation and eight years removed from its debut, the futuristic-looking sport utility vehicle is categorized as a subcompact luxury crossover. The description is contradictory and inaccurate. Luxury in vehicles was once determined by spaciousness, top-end construction, top-line materials and a handsome, confident and powerful presence powering along the highway. The NX 350 is none of that. Lexus remains the luxury brand of Toyota. Its upscale offerings were vaulted to the top of the J.D Power & Associates in 1991, the car maker’s third model year. More than

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