Volvo

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 an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. Standard equipment includes: 8-inch five-spoke silver alloy wheels, high gloss piano black grille,

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2017 Volvo V90 Cross Country: new station wagon redux

Stations wagons were all the rage 75 years ago. The 1941 Chrysler Town and Country bubble-back design had a cavernous interior and featured top-line woodgrain paneling. It was the most expensive vehicle in carmaker’s lineup and cost $1,495. Much has happened since. Somewhere in recent years, manufacturers began to believe the word station was a disservice as a prefix to the word wagon. Mercedes-Benz has estate wagons. Audi has the all-road. Volkswagen has its SportWagen. It’s all new lingo far-removed from the name station wagon, the name given to the spacious but trunkless vehicles used to carry multiple occupants and their luggage to train stations. The 2017 V90 Cross Country is the new station wagon from Volvo. But like every

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Episode 16, LA Auto Show Day 3: Tips for the public, Volvo, meet Blinker

Rod Buscher was in the car dealership business for 30 years. Now, he’s the CEO of Blinker, the application that simplifies the car-buying and car-selling process. In Episode 16, we interview Buscher during the LA Auto Show. Also, we provide an overview of the show for its public viewing days, Dec. 1-10. And we discuss the fly-and-buy program offered by Volvo. James RaiaA sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004. In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for

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2017 Volvo S90: New luxury sedan trumps German rivals

Imagine a Swedish-built sedan trying to infiltrate the luxury market dominated by BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi? Welcome the 2017 Volvo S90. The new flagship replaces the Volvo S80 as a slightly wider and longer offering. Its sleek exterior design features take Volvo further past its former reputation. It’s no longer a manufacturer of sturdy but stodgy vehicles only at their best Scandinavian winters. Offered with a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder, turbocharged engine, the Volvo S90 is offered in T5 and T6 models. The latter was my weekly driver, and it’s the more powerful with 316 horsepower while utilizing the turbocharger and supercharger. Both models have eight-speed automatic transmissions, with the T5 front-wheel drive and the T6 all-wheel drive. As expected in luxury

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Volvo unveils new car-buying reality in cool car videos

Volvo has just released two videos that have moved to forefront of the auto industry. Volvo cars are marketed as the safest cars on the market. The carmaker’s design also reflects the clean, sleek characteristics of Swedish design. The two new car videos personify that image. The first video is a six-month-old project Volvo has introduced in conjunction with Microsoft. The HoloLens (hologram) allows customers to wear a device to configure vehicles in a new way, via visualization. The video shows how shoppers can view useful features often overlooked in car manuals via three-dimensional glasses device. The result is  “augmented reality.” Although not yet available to the public, early demonstrations showed potential customers confirming details. Volvo customers are wearing the

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2016 Volvo XC90: Style, safety in new luxury SUV

The first generation Volvo XC90 SUV was introduced in 2002. Worth the wait 13 years later is the second generation 2016 Volvo XC90. It offers a new level of sophistication and utility. The 2016 XC90 is new from badge to backup camera. It’s the first plug-in hybrid SUV offering three rows of seating for seven. Our drive with Volvo‘s mid-size SUV introduced us to a memorable luxury experience, a suite of modern safety features and superior efficiency in a package that dresses to impress. Driving Impressions Volvo is offering two versions of the redesigned 2016 XC90: the T6 and T8. The T6 AWD, on sale now, delivers 316 horsepower from a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine with a supercharger and turbocharger. Power

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2015 Volvo V60 T5: Wagon comeback in a big way

The 2015 Volvo V60 T5 is a new car the United States. It’s been in Europe for a few years, but for the American market it’s unlike any other Volvo wagon. They were previously all built like small passenger tanks and were about as attractive. Volvo stopped making its larger wagons a few years ago. But with the debut of the V60, the Scandinavian-influenced carmaker with parts from Sweden, Germany, Japan, the United States and Canada, could have an entirely new following. The 2015 Volvo V60 resembles its long-ago sibling, the P1800s series, now collectors’ cars. The new offering is still a wagon. But it’s a stylish, sleek wagon with an attractive combination: It’s handsome and versatile. The Weekly Driver

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2015 Volvo XC60: Hot engine, better transmission

I’m happy to see Volvo is surviving. I’ve been an on-off-on Volvo fan since I bought a seemingly indestructible 1956 Volvo PV444 in 1963 with its stick shift and lively twin-carburetor engine. The midsize Volvo XC60 upscale crossover has progressed nicely since introduced a few years ago and is one of the best such vehicles offered, although it faces stiff competition. For 2014, the XC60 got a new hood, front fenders, redesigned headlights and new instruments, along with paddle shifters for the automatic transmission. It also got new 18-inch alloy wheels and new “corner traction control.” The XC60 is generally handsome, from its lower front spoiler to its nicely integrated exhaust tips. The interior is upscale, with easily read gauges

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Top-10 cars in 2013 no one is buying

Competition in the auto industry is ever-intensifying. Or at least it seems that way. As a result, more vehicles have become better cars and fewer cars are outright bad. But how fast cars sell or don’t sell is a good indicator of what cars customers want and don’t want. New cars in 2013 have spent an average of 62 days at a dealership before being sold, according to the statistics of the car site, TruCar.com. The 10 slowest-selling cars so far in 2013 have all remained at a dealership for more than 100 days before selling. It doesn’t mean the slow-selling cars aren’t quality new cars. Seasonal sales factor into the equation and a brand with a new generation pending

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Volvo C30, 2013: Cool look, safe ride got Swedish retro hatchback extinct quickly

The Volvo P1800ES is arguably the coolest and most unheralded sports cars from the 1970s. It’s still around and without too much difficulty could be mistaken for the current Volvo C30. The current version has also been discontinued, which means 40 years from now it will look as hip and the P1800ES, now also in its 40s. Both have the unique-to-the-industry tapering roofline and glass hatchback. Volvo has always been known for industry-leading safety features. But the Volvo C30, introduced in 2008, is several steps away. It’s a perceived sports car, and it never sold particularly well. The 2013 edition is available in T5 and R-Design trims. Both trims have a five-cylinder engine, with the top-line R-Design equipped with a

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Car Review: 2013 Volvo S60 T5 is a four-door coupe with a sports car feel

It’s hard to keep track of Volvo. The Swedish manufacturerwhose emblem dates to the country’s early iron industry history, was sold to Ford in 1999. The American company, in turn, sold Volvo to China-based Geely. Buy a Volvo today, like the 2013 S60 T5, and you’re still getting a vehicle with engine parts originating from Sweden. But parts from Belgium, Germany and Japan are also in the mix. Volvo still also has its solid feel and sturdy construction demeanor, but long gone is its heavy box-on-wheels reputation. The S60 sedan is now well into its second decade and second generation in the niche category of “four-door coupe.” The Weekly Driver Test Drive For 2013, the Volvo S60 T5 offers All-Wheel

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2013 Volvo XC60: Solid sports car alternative with vast cargo room

It used to be that a need for more room called for a move to a truck-like SUV. But then vehicles such as the Volvo XC60 crossover came along, feeling much like a sports sedan but providing lots of cargo space. The 2013 XC60 drives more like a carlike compact premium crossover vehicle than a typical SUV. It continues in a variety of trim levels, starting at $34,200 for a front-wheel-drive (FWD) version and ending at $48,750 for a more powerful, deluxe, turbocharged all-wheel-drive (AWD) model. The XC60 has a non-turbocharged 3.2-liter 240-horsepower six-cylinder engine or a potent turbocharged 3-liter six-cylinder that generates 300 horsepower—or 325 if you want the higher-performance R-Design model. Any XC60 model tops 4,000 pounds, so

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Volvo S60 T6, 2013: Sporty all-wheel drive T6 offers sedan at its best

The five-cylinder 250-horsepower 2013 Volvo T5 sedan I tested was very good. But I soon found the hotter S60 T6 AWD R-Design sedan almost felt like a different car. In fact, the S60 T6 AWD R-Design model is arguably the best high-performance Volvo ever. Both the Volvo T5 and T6 models have slick, virtually identical styling. But the S60 T6 AWD R-Design has a more potent six-cylinder engine. It also has a sport chassis, larger brakes and standard all-wheel drive, besides sportier interior and exterior features. A turbocharged 3-liter 300-horsepower six-cylinder is available for the 2013 S60, which has a standard turbocharged 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine. But the hot rod R-Design does it one better by having a 3-liter turbocharged and

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

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 station wagon version was especially popular. The redesigned 2011 S60 Volvo four-door sedan went a long way to help break

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Volvo truck debuts with Faith Dickey's daredevil wired walk of faith

Volvo is no different than other carmakers with clever marketing. By the time new Volvo FH truck was launched Sept. 5 in Gothenburg, Sweden, it had already received vast considerable attention via a YouTube video called Ballerina Stunt. In the 3 1/2-minute footage high-liner world record holder Faith Dickey walks on a wire strung between two new FH trucks driving at 50 mph as it approaches a tunnel. The stunt was set up to show the precise handling of the new Volvo FH. It was filmed on an unopened highway in Croatia in cooperation with Hollywood stunt director Peter Pedrero (James Bond, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean.) The video, which has 5  1/2-million views, was directed by Academy Award

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Volvo XC60, 2012: New style dispels rocky SUV crossover reputation

The boxy Volvos of the 1980s almost seem like classics, and few would have guessed  then the automaker would make a premium, sporty crossover such as the 2012 Volvo XC60. Although large and heavy, the mid-sized XC60 has shapely sculpted styling, with sexy chromed exhaust outlets, and drives much like a smaller sports sedan. In fact, it’s based on Volvo’s athletic S60 sedan architecture. The firm steering is quick, handling inspires confidence during hard driving, backed by stability and traction control systems.The ride is a bit firm, but supple. Powerful anti-lock brakes have a nice pedal action. Rivals include the BMW’s popular X3, and other formidable competitors such as the Acura RDX, Audi Q5, Infiniti FX and Mercdes-Benz GLK350. The

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