2006 Volvo V70 2.4 Wagon 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Volvo's plan for China: sell them on the clean air inside the car

Large Chinese cities aren't known for having clean air. Just this week, the Chinese city of Harbin filled with record levels of smog after starting the city's coal-fired heating system, according to CNN. But Li Shufu, the chairman of Geely, Volvo's parent company, says the automaker's astute attention to cabin comfort in areas such as air filtration is a selling point for the Swedish automaker in China, Forbes reports.
Shufu says when he is inside a Volvo, he feels like he's in Northern Europe, but when the door is opened, he feels like he's in Beijing. The chairman made the remarks at the fourth annual Global Auto Forum (GAF) in China (which also happened to be attended by Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, which was Volvo's owner until 2010), where he emphasized Geely's hands-off approach to managing Volvo, saying, "Geely and Volvo are brothers, not father and son."
While good filtration contributes to cabin comfort, the way we see it, Shufu also is allowing Volvo to play to its most well-known strength: safety. Smog protection via air filtration might not seem like the most important safety feature for a car in the US (unless you live in Los Angeles), but when you consider that Harbin's level of fine particles was up to 30 times higher than the World Health Organization's recommended standard on Tuesday, we'd think twice about that. Fine particles, which are 2.5 micrometers in diameter or less, are considered to be the most harmful to health.

New Volvo ad remembers the joy of rear-facing jump seats

With the rise in popularity of first the minivan and later the crossover as the default family vehicle, there have been about 20 years of children who have missed out on the joy of rear-facing jump seats in station wagons. It means kids today don't know the pleasure to be found in making faces or lewd gestures at other drivers while their parents can't see. Plus, they don't know the slightly nauseous feeling of watching the world pass by in reverse. However, a group of filmmakers look back with nostalgia at this increasingly uncommon automotive feature in a new ad for the 2015 Volvo V60.
As part of its sponsorship of the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, Volvo commissions a team each year to create an advertisement to be shown during the festival. This year's shows how the company's buyers have gone from riding in the back to driving the brand's cars. Scroll down to check out the charming ad, along with some wistful looks at classic Volvo wagons, before the jump seat is forgotten.

2015 Volvo Ocean Race XC60 priced from $42,100*

Every three years, a half dozen or so teams of sailors embark on an epic eight-month, round-the-world sailboat race formerly called the Whitbread Round the World Race and known since 2001 as the Volvo Ocean Race. This year's event started a month ago in Alicante, Spain, and will end next June at the Swedish automaker's hometown of Gothenburg. And to mark the occasion, just as it has in years past, Volvo has launched a special edition of one of its roadgoing models.
The Volvo Ocean Race XC60 was launched this weekend at the Miami Auto Show. Based on the XC60 crossover we know well, the limited edition is distinguished by its Ocean Blue II paintjob, unique 18-inch wheels, a choice of black or light leather interior with orange stitching and a series of special badges inside and out.
Buyers will be able to choose between the T6 Drive-E and T6 AWD models, priced from $42,100 and $43,600 respectively. That represents a $1,200 premium over models on which they're based, on top of which, Volvo has confirmed in correspondence with Autoblog, the usual $925 destination charge applies.