Volvo “round the world”

Swedish car manufacturer Volvo owned by Geely Holding of China recently announced that it plans to spend around $11 billion to develop new products and boost productions in the coming years.

An earlier report said that Geely will be investing the money but later on the spokesperson of the car manufacturer said that the funding will be released by Volvo itself and will include financing from borrowing and financing. The spokesperson clearly stated that it is not the Chinese firm which will release the funds.

Geely took control of the Volvo brand from Ford back in 2010 as China’s biggest acquisition in the auto industry and a show of might of the booming sector.

During an interview back in 2011, Stefan Jacoby, CEO of Volvo, revealed that there will be around $11 billion of investment to develop new products and build new factories in Chiana in order to meet the goal of delivering 800,000 units in about a decade. The brand wants to double the sales in about 10 years and also get the 20% share of the premium vehicle market of China by 2015.

Another report quotes Li Shufu, president of Geely, saying that Volvo will be using the funds to construct new factories to build its engines, boost research, and upgrade its technologies.

Volvo will also partner with Geely Automobile, also a property of Zheijang Geely Holding, in purchasing of auto parts and car components. They will also develop technologies for future electric vehicles and small engines. The goal is to revive Volvo and also recover its strength in the market.

Using the technologies of Volvo, Geely is set to come up with a new brand in China but this brand will later be under the umbrella of the Geely Automotive.

Volvo wants to achieve about 200,000 deliveries in China by 2014, a big increase from last years 47,000 units.

Volvo makes history as it unveils the XC60 Plug-in hybrid during the NAIAS in Detroit. The XC60 gasoline plug-in vehicle is a concept car which is specifically developed for the United States and China. It will be rolled out to the US market in a few years time.

The vehicle is practically a hybrid car, an all electric car, and a high performance vehicle rolled into one. The XC60 plug-in hybrid is also the first vehicle which can be plugged in into a wall outlet without needing any converter, making it really viable for home use or if the owners are on the move.

The PHEV of Volvo in the US might be marketed as an XC60 in the US or an S60 according to the topman of the company Stefan Jacoby. He also hinted that the XC60 represents the future Volvo’s we will see on the road.

The XC60 can go for 35 miles on pure electric power alone while its charging time is around 3.5 hours if you plug it into a 220 volt outlet or double that time if you use a 110V outlet which is more common. Volvo foresees the fuel economy on US roads to hit around 105 mpg and around 50 mpg when its battery runs out. The vehicle can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 5.8 seconds going to its top speed of 130 mph. The automatic transmission by the way has eight gears.

The gasoline depended portion of the drive train makes use of a 2.0L 4-cylinder engien with direct injection, turbocharger, and a stop-start technology. The gas engine outputs around 280 horsepower and transfers its power to the front wheels. The car has a 70 horsepower electric motor to move the wheels at the back. The PHEV makes use of a lithium ion battery pack with 12-kWh and it only uses around 66% of it when it runs.

The driver can easily switch from one mode to another to go Pure, Power, or Hybrid. We might be able to see this Volvo on the round by 2014 or 2015 and it could well be worth the wait.

A lot of drivers are terrified as deers or other critters suddenly lunge onto the road with the human behind the wheels just terrified or sometimes panic leading to fatal road mishaps. Volvo wants to decrease these encounters of man and animals on the road as they introduce a new technology that makes use of infrared camera and radar sensor to detect nearby animals on the road. The system will even hit the brakes for the driver when the collision is computed to be unavoidable.

Volvo seeks new technologies in order to further improve the safety of their vehicles but also gain some edge with competitors like BMW.

This warning and emergency brake system will be used in Volvo cars like the sport utility vehicle XC90 in a few ears time after completing a study of deer and moose movements in the southern parts of Sweden.

BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi lead the pack as they supply 300 times more cars and aim for sales records this year compared to Volvo. The top luxury brands are also hard at work to make their vehicles a lot safer.

Volvo, now owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group of China, is the first car manufacturer to introduce automatic braking for pedestrians back in 2010. The brand needs to stay ahead of these automotive safety innovations to keep their prices in the premium level.

Volvo aims to hit 800,000 vehicle sales by 2020 and eliminating fatal accidents across its lineup in the same year.

The brand is the leader in active-safety which involves making use of radars and cameras to improve safety. Premium brands like Mercedes and BMW has been experimenting on technologies like this a decade ago as safety enhancements using them now flows to mass market brand.

American carmaker Ford recently confirmed that Volvo and its related assets are going to be sold to Zheijiang Geely. The terms of the sale have been finalized but there are still closing conditions to be met before completing the sale.

Volvo plus most of its intellectual properties were assessed to be at $1.8 billion. Ford will be paid $200 million in the form of a note and the rest of the deal will come in as cash. Ford is still expected to collaborate with Volvo in some areas of the operation to ensure that there will be a smooth transition. The carmaker will also still supply vehicle components, stampings, and powertrains for Volvo as agreed. Volvo will also still have access to the information technology of Ford and its engineering support.

Portions of the intellectual properties which were co-developed with its former parent company can be used by third parties like Geely under sublicenses. Most likely the new owner will make use of the safety technology, forced induction for the engine, and dual clutch system.

How Geely will affect the future lineup of Volvo is still uncertain. For now the brand has just revealed its 2010 XC60 and the facelifted C70 convertible. The new S60 sedan is set to be rolled out before the end of 2010.

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Swedish car manufacturer Volvo recently released the first set of official images of their new Volvo S60 sedan.

The company being sold by Ford Motor promises that the new S60 will be more dynamic and sportier than the older members of the fleet. The production version of the S60 is very similar to the concept car that was unveiled during the Detroit Auto Show last January. The car keeps the stylish lines and aggressive stance of the concept car.

The S60 retains the attractive headlights and fascia of the show car. The new Volvo vehicle will go into production in their factory in Gent, Belgium by summer of 2010. It is expected to wow everyone at the Geneva Auto Show this coming March.

The new sporty member in the Volvo garage was specifically designed to meet head on the luxury sedans in the market like the 3 Series of BMW.

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Volvo Cars, Semcon, ETC, Vattenfall, and the Swedish Energimyndigheten has been sharing expertise and technology to produce hybrid plug-in concept vehicles in the Volvo concept facility.

Completion of three concept vehicles is expected this fall. These prototypes will be used by the companies to gain more knowledge of how consumers will need plug-in units in the future. They will look into how people want their cars to feel in terms of performance and functionality. Another important item to address is how people want to charge their rides.

The tie-up formed a six-man team which converted a standard combustion engine vehicle into a hybrid plug-in. The team installed an electric motor and batteries, and tweaked on the car’s configuration to make everything work together.

The collaboration proved to be very cost effective since there are experts from all the fields needed to come up with a viable concept car. The members of the team contributed their own inputs for project management, electronics, engineering, and powertrain.

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Swedish car manufacturer Volvo needs help and is looking at the Belgian government for extra funding. Volvo operates a factory in the region of Flanders in Belgium and Kris Peeters, the Flemish Premier, is discussing with Stephen Odell, CEO of Volvo, a possible loan amounting to $418 million.

The talks are expected to be done by this week before the elections in the region. If the loan will push through, experts are assuming restrictions on where the cash can be used. The loan guarantee is aimed at helping specifically the plant in Flanders.

The primary concern of the Flemish government is to preserve the employment of the workers. The business plan presented by Volvo will be studied under this light plus the possibilities of Volvo being acquired by other parties. The Premier will only agree to the loan if he can get long term commitments from Volvo and understand its long term plans.

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As we have read in the previous reports, Ford initially denied Volvo’s sale, however, it has been confirmed that Chinese automaker Geely is Volvo’s official buyer, outbidding the fellow Chinese car companies like the Beijing Auto, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., and Dongfeng Motor Group, and even the European constellation.

According the Shenzhen News in China, unnamed yet reliable sources inside the Chinese government have leaked that Geely has written and signed the purchase letter for Volvo. Geely and Ford are still going over the final details of the purchase, emphasizing on the turnover of the technology, the brand’s existing marketing strategies and positioning, layoffs, and Geely’s plan to kick off Volvo’s production in a brand new factory in Guangdong Province.

According to the ongoing deal, the first Chinese Volvo’s full design will be designed solely by Geely—the new-generation XC90to come out in 2011. Moreover, Geely will invest almost $10 billion to help build and strength the brand.

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Swedish car manufacturer Volvo, in line with its DRIVe Towards Zero campaign will be launching a hybrid vehicle by 2012. The announcement also puts spotlight to the partnership formed between Volvo and energy firm Vattenfall.

Vattenfall will be helping Volvo in the production of their first plug in vehicle and their line of electric vehicles in the future. The agreement between the two companies to develop the needed technology have been forged since 2007.

Saab has also joined forces with Volvo and Vattenfall to help in the endeavor. Saab has developed a concept 9-X BioHybrid.

Volvo has on the drawing boards the concept car based on the hatchback C30 for their plug-in hybrid car technology. By mid-2009. Volvo will run a test of their V70 plug in cars cruising on the roads of Europe.

The demo vehicles is aimed at giving Volvo and its partners the feedback that they need from the first hand experience of the people behind the wheels. They want to hear about the comments of consumers with regard to the new car technology so they can adapt to possible driving habits and apply the necessary innovations.

Vattenfall will explore the different means of charging the vehicle at home or through network of public charging stations.

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Volvo is introducing two 2.4-liter, five-cylinder, turbo diesel engines: the twin turbo D5 with 420 Nm of torque and 205 horse power, and the single turbo 2.4D with 420 Nm of torque and 175 horse power.

The higher powered engine has already been launched in the Volvo S80, but both engines will soon be available in Volvo V70, Volvo S80, Volvo XC70 and Volvo XC60 in most markets by spring of this year.

Among the two D5 engines, the twin turbo engine is also more fuel-efficient. The engine allows for a higher level of exhaust gas recirculation compared to other engines. The twin turbo D5 effectively combines high performance with low fuel consumption.

The single turbo 2.4D was also optimized to use up lower levels of fuel. The engine is set to have a different injection system compared to the one D5 nestles. Its fuel efficiency and combustion will depend thoroughly on precise fuel injection sequences.

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