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Volvo Cars' sales of fully electric vehicles jump in October

STOCKHOLM - Volvo Cars' sales in October grew 10% from a year earlier to 59,861 cars as fully electric car sales jumped but hybrid models fell, the Sweden-based group said on Friday. Volvo Cars said in a statement sales of fully electric cars rose 29% to account for 18% of all its cars sold in the month. Sales of hybrid cars, however, fell 8%. In total, all recharge models were up 7% to account for 36% of total sales. Shares in the group, which is majority-owned by China's Geely Holding, were up 6% in morning trade, taking the year-to-date drop to 12%. CEO Jim Rowan last week said he saw healthy demand for Volvo cars and widening profit margins for its battery electric vehicles (BEV) this quarter, against the third, as the group posted third-quarter profits that lagged estimates. Rivals such as General Motors, Ford, Tesla and Volkswagen have earlier warned that demand for EVs was not developing as expected. Volvo Cars said on Friday that sales in the biggest market Europe were up 13% in October. Sales in the U.S. were up 19% while, in China, they were flat. (Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, Editing by Terje Solsvik and Jacqueline Wong)

Editors’ Picks July 2022 | Volvo XC60, 911 GT3 and a hot Hyundai

This latest rendition of Editors’ Picks sees us recognize some enthusiast-focused vehicles on both sides of the price spectrum and a luxury SUV. The 911 GT3 was an easy shoo-in, but the Hyundai Elantra N is what surprised us the most. WeÂ’re sad to see the Veloster N bow out after this year, but at least the N model in its place is a worthy one. In case you missed our previous Editors' Picks posts, hereÂ’s a quick refresher on whatÂ’s going on here. We rate all the new cars we drive with a 1-10 score. Cars that are exemplary in their respective segments get EditorsÂ’ Pick status. Those are the ones weÂ’d recommend to our friends, family and anybody whoÂ’s curious and asks the question. The list that youÂ’ll find below consists of every car we rated in July that earned an EditorsÂ’ Pick. 2022 Volvo XC60 2022 Volvo XC60 Recharge View 36 Photos Quick take: The Volvo XC60 is one of our favorite luxury crossovers, and the PHEV option is a killer setup. We dig the interior design, and the exterior is attractively Swedish, too. Score: 7.5 What it competes with: Alfa Romeo Stelvio, Genesis GV70, Jaguar F-Pace, BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class, Audi Q5, Lexus NX, Acura RDX, Volvo XC60, Lincoln Corsair, Infiniti QX50, Porsche Macan Pros: Great design, epic PHEV option, intriguing interior design options Cons: Tech can be cumbersome, big wheels lead to a stiff ride From the editors: Road Test Editor Zac Palmer — "When it comes to plug-in hybrids, there's no better compact crossover option than the XC60 Recharge. I really dig the extra-powerful electric motor and larger battery Volvo added this year. The interior wool option is my pick of the bunch, but I am a little disappointed that there aren't as many physical buttons throughout the interior as there were before." News Editor Joel Stocksdale — "Although it's got some age, the Volvo XC60 is still an excellent premium SUV. It's as handsome as ever with its clean, modern design inside and out, and feels genuinely luxurious. But what really sets the XC60 apart is its available plug-in hybrid powertrain. It's smooth and refined, and best of all, it's still great in electric mode.

Geely's new EV plant in China will build premium Polestar cars

BEIJING/SHANGHAI — An electric vehicle factory planned by China's Geely will produce cars under the premium Polestar marque, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group plans to build a plant with annual manufacturing capacity of 30,000 premium EVs in the western city of Chongqing, run by a wholly owned, newly registered company, according to documents on its website. Geely and Polestar declined to comment. The plan comes as foreign automakers including BMW AG and Tesla expand EV production in the worldÂ’s biggest market, sourcing major EV components such as batteries locally and often even exporting a portion of the vehicles it builds. Hangzhou-based Geely is ChinaÂ’s most internationally known automaker. It owns Volvo Cars and Lotus, almost half of Proton and 9.7% of Daimler AG. Through wholly owned company Polestar, it builds low-volume Polestar 1 hybrid performance cars in the western city of Chengdu and Polestar 2 volume sedans in Taizhou in the east. It also plans to begin production of the Precept sedan, displayed at this yearÂ’s China auto show. Polestar aims to eventually offer bigger, more sporty vehicles at its showrooms, which currently span nine countries and whose number it plans to raise to 45 from 23 by year-end. Polestar Chief Executive Thomas Ingenlath told Reuters the firm is scouting markets in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Geely is also building a factory in China to make sport-utility vehicles under the Lotus marque, Reuters reported.