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Volvo releases extensive model updates for 2014

The 2014 model year is going to see big changes for the Volvo lineup. The biggest news is that the "60 cluster" models (the S60, V60 and XC60) are receiving some substantial updates despite not being all that old, and Volvo is also refreshing the S80, V70 and XC70 models. Of course, the 2014 model year also marks the departure of the C30 and C70 from its lineup, and we still have at least a year to wait until we see the redesigned XC90.
Except for the XC90, all of the 2014 Volvos will be getting noticeable design updates. The S60, V60 and XC60 get more in-depth changes, including a full front facelift. All will use an evolution of the "naughty" design that debuted on the S60. The rear of all three cars get some changes, too, most notably consisting of the reshaped rear fascia with the integrated exhaust outlets. S80, V70 and XC70 will get more minor changes - mostly to bring them in line with the fresher models. The XC70 keeps is rugged plastic cladding, but it gets some stylish wheels with what look like arrowhead accents.
Inside, all of these updated models will new in-car technology such as the Sensus Connected Touch infotainment system and the adaptive digital display with a TFT (thin film transistor) screen. This reconfigurable screen allows the driver to choose between three different themes - Elegance, Eco and Performance - which changes the color and layout of the background. Other new features include heated windshields, Active High Beam Control for the headlights, paddle shifters for a little added driver involvement and IntelliSafe active safety systems (City Safety, Pedestrian Detection and Road Sign Information) The S80, V70 and XC70 will also add heated steering wheels to their respective options sheets, too.

See Volvo's integration of Apple CarPlay in action

Apple unveiled its new CarPlay touchscreen infotainment system earlier today, and Volvo has just released a video showing the system in action. The Cupertino tech giant is expected to announce partnerships with Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz to license CarPlay, as well, at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show and will be working with even more manufacturers in the future.
The system pairs the driver's iPhone with the car's infotainment system and seamlessly allows them use the smart phone's functions and, at least in Volvo's demonstration, the car's climate control and seat heating systems. According to the video, the new system will be available "in the coming generation Volvo cars," which likely means the upcoming, next-generation Volvo XC90.
However, the system will not work universally. Apple will add functionality through an update to iOS 7 in the future for the iPhone 5, 5C and 5S. At launch other devices won't be supported. Scroll down to watch CarPlay work. We are expecting more details to emerge on the new infotainment system when the Swiss show opens tomorrow.

Volvo EX30 endures a side impact crash test with an EX90

Before Volvo launched the EX90, the Swedish automaker — already known as a pioneer in safety — repeatedly stressed how much work it had done to raise the bar for safety in its new electric SUV. Almost every new release included lines like, "The standard safety in the Volvo EX90 is also higher than any Volvo car before it," and "The Volvo EX90 has an invisible shield of safety enabled by our latest sensing technology, inside and outside." But these focused on the car's electronic suite of sensors and cameras watching everything from the road ahead and behind to the driver's state of fatigue. The company did the same during the launch of the EX30, writing that its new compact electric vehicle protects all occupants "through state-of-the-art restraint technology, as well as top-notch structural design that fulfills our ambitious in-house safety requirements — designed to prepare our cars for various real-world scenarios." To prove a point about the safety of the EX30, Volvo's in-house crash-test lab performed a side impact test, running its largest car, the EX90, into the side of its smallest, the EX30.  We don't get to see any interior view of the EX30 during the test or afterward. In an Automotive News Europe video about the crash and the results, Lotta Jakobsson from the Volvo Cars Safety Center says the data showed that the two "small-sized females" sitting on the struck side "were well protected" in the crash, with minimal infliction of injury. The physical design of both cars helps make this happen. The EX30 was designed to disperse all of its forces around the structure of the car for "balanced interaction" during an event. That's pretty standard stuff. On the EX90, a piece of the lower front structure juts ahead of the vehicle's primary safety structure. As ANE Managing Editor Doug Bolduc puts it, that lower structure is "specifically designed to help it absorb a lot of the power of a crash with a smaller vehicle ... that is to not only provide protection to the passengers of the EX90 but also to provide protection to the passengers of the EX30." The result is "less damage than you might have expected from the larger car onto the smaller car."  Check out the vid and for Jakobsson's take on how current trends in structural, passive, and active safety won't rid the world of crashes, but they are reducing injuries while at the same time making crashes less common.