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Volvo planning an electric sedan prototype perhaps called ES90

The Automotive News future product pipeline indicates Volvo's planning to begin production of an electric version of the S90 sedan in late 2024, with sales to begin in 2025. The car is definitely coming, and could be here on the early side. Swedish outlet Teknikens Varld (translated) got eyes on a post from Volvo's internal website celebrating the completion of a verification prototype (VP) of a car internally called the V551, publicly expected to be the ES90. Workers at Geely's Cixi Assembly Plant south of Shanghai marked the arrival of the car in a photo under a banner reading, "Volvo Cars V551 First VP Car Celebration," in front of a vehicle covered by a tarp stamped with "Confidential Top Secret." We don't know the production model will be called ES90, but the naming scheme fits if using the EX90 as a guide. Volvo applied to trademark the name, the potential hitch being that Lexus has indicated its displeasure with Volvo putting an ES model on the market since Lexus has its long-lived ES-followed-by-a-number sedan.     Volvo documents leaked online last year point to a body sized between the short- and long-wheelbase versions of the gas-powered S90 (pictured above), sitting on the same SPA2 platform as the recently introduced EX90. Dimensions come in at 196.4 inches long, 76.6 inches wide, and 60.9 inches high on a 122-inch wheelbase. This would make it four inches shorter than the current S90 long-wheelbase, the only version sold anymore, 1.7 inches wider, and 3.2 inches taller, with a wheelbase 1.5 inches longer. If this is how it turns out for production, the ES90 will be 1.5 inches shorter than the EX90 but have a wheelbase 2.5 inches longer — a chauffeur special for the Chinese market, perhaps. A 111-kWh battery pack (107 kWh usable) would be the same spec that powers the EX90, the ES90 in rear-drive trim expected to be good for nearly 600 kilometers (373 miles) on China's CLTC vehicle regimen. We need clarity on other rumored specs like a powertrain making 455 horsepower and 523 pound-feet, a curb weight of 5,511 pounds for an RWD trim and 5,732 pounds for dual-motor AWD.

Daimler rebuffs Geely offer to buy stake

HONG KONG/BEIJING - Daimler AG has turned down an offer from China's Geely to take a stake of up to 5 percent via a discounted share placement, as the German automaker has long been reluctant to see existing shareholdings diluted, sources with knowledge of the talks said. A stake of that size would be worth $4.5 billion at current market prices. Although Daimler declined the offer, it told Geely it was welcome to buy shares in the open market, the sources added. Carmakers in China have embarked on a flurry of dealmaking, as they scramble to boost production of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles ahead of tough new quotas to be imposed by Beijing, which wants to reduce urban smog and lower the country's reliance on oil. People with knowledge of Geely's thinking said the company was keen to access Daimler's electric car battery technology and wanted to establish an electric car joint venture in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province. Geely, which also owns Swedish car maker Volvo, is still hopeful it can secure a deal in some form over the coming weeks, they added. The two automakers met in Beijing in recent weeks at Geely's behest. There, the Chinese firm, formally known as Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, offered to take a stake of between 3 percent and 5 percent if Daimler would issue new shares at a discount, the sources said. It was not immediately clear what kind of discount for the shares Geely had in mind or whether Geely was interested in buying the shares on the open market. A spokesman for Geely declined to comment. A spokesman for Daimler said the company was "very happy with our shareholder structure at present", but added that it would welcome new investors with a long-term interest in the company. Shares in Daimler were up 1 percent in early Wednesday trade, in line with the broader market.DAIMLER ALREADY TIED TO BAIC, BYD Geely, which has a market value of some $32 billion, is the leading domestic brand in China with a 5 percent market share, according to an analysis by Nomura Securities. A stake of 5 percent would establish it as Daimler's third-largest shareholder behind the Kuwait Investment Authority and BlackRock, who hold 6.8 percent and 6 percent respectively, according to Reuters data.

Volvos will brake for bicyclists with new detection technology

Anyone who pedals a bicycle knows that one of the biggest dangers to riders is a motorized vehicle - Volvo estimates that nearly 50 percent of all cyclists killed in European traffic have collided with a car. In the United States alone, 618 riders lost their lives in bicycle/motor vehicle crashes in 2010, and the number of injuries surpassed 52,000.
To help drop those numbers, Volvo has just announced Cyclist Detection with full auto brake - a technology that detects and automatically applies a vehicle's brakes when a cyclist swerves in front of a moving car. The basic components of the system include a radar unit integrated into the front grille, a camera fitted in front of the interior rear-view mirror and a central control unit. The radar is tasked with seeing obstacles in front of the vehicle and calculating distance, while the camera is responsible to determine what the object is. The central control unit, with rapid processing capabilities, monitors and evaluates the situation.
The technology, which will be sold bundled with its Pedestrian Detection and called Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection, will automatically apply full braking when both the radar and camera confirm a pedestrian or cyclist are in the immediate path of the vehicle. According to the automaker, the technology will be offered on the Volvo V40, S60, V60, XC60, V70, XC70 and S80 models from mid-May in 2013.