1999 Volvo V70 X/c Awd Wagon 4-door 2.4l on 2040-cars

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Why Mazda did so well and Volvo so poorly in Consumer Reports survey

The poor performances of Tesla and all three domestic automakers got the headlines in Consumer Reports magazine's latest reliability survey, but there were other results that caught our interest. Tiny Mazda notched the biggest gain among the 29 brands included in this year's list, leap-frogging nine spots to No. 3. Buick, which was in the top 10 last year, fell 11 spots to No. 19, the biggest decline of any brand. And then there's Volvo, a brand often vaunted for its quality and reliability, dropping six spots to dead last. What gives? For starters, all three brands benefited or suffered in large part due to their relatively small portfolio of vehicles. So when raves or complaints rolled in for even one particular model, as was often the case, it weighed heavily on the entire brand. That's especially true when it involves a relatively high-volume, hot-selling model such as the Buick Enclave (more on that in a moment). Mazda fared as well as it did despite the CX-3 losing Consumer Reports' influential "recommended" status due to problems with its climate system, including leaks from the condenser and refrigerant unit that triggered a service bulletin from the automaker in late 2016. Deputy auto editor Jon Linkov said that scratch didn't hurt the overall brand, since the CX-9 crossover and MX-5 Miata both jumped up to replace it on CR's list of newly recommended vehicles, thanks to several back fixes Mazda made to both models. For Buick, the redesigned Enclave SUV earned a "Much Worse Than Average" rating after owners reported problems with the new nine-speed automatic transmission it shares with the Chevrolet Traverse as well as some issues with the climate system. There were issues with rough shifting, plus complaints about the torque converter that necessitated fixes to the computer or outright replacement. "Again, similar stuff that we saw with the Traverse: both first-year vehicles, similar powertrains," LInkov said. He said all-new vehicles or redesigns typically fare poorly in CR's reliability survey due to issues that are hard to suss out before vehicles go into everyday use by consumers. The top-selling Encore and Envision fared well, Linkov said, but were outdone by the Enclave's problematic transmission components. The Enclave was Buick's second best-selling model through September at 35,227 units. Then there is Volvo, about which there is one word to sum up its woes: infotainment.

Polestar says goodbye to Volvo C30 in video tribute

The Volvo C30 was put to its eternal bed a few months ago, but the tuners at Polestar have a little more eulogizing to do. The Swedish house of speed that has raced and reworked the little hatch since its introduction in 2006 wants the world to know what they've been through together, so it has encapsulated seven years of around-the-world action into three minutes and 28 seconds of track footage and champagne.
We're still waiting on word of a replacement for the funny little hatch, and while we lament what could have been, the video below proves that the C30 provided plenty of thrills for those outside of the US. And as you can read in our recent review of the Polestar-enhanced road-going C30, it provided a decent amount of fun for those of us in the States, as well.

Volvo Cars laying off 1,300 as it steps up cost cuts

Volvo Cars will lay off around 1,300 office-based employees in Sweden as it steps up cost cutting, the Sweden-based automaker said on Thursday. While an earlier efficiency drive had begun to show results, with Volvo this week reporting a strong first quarter, more efficiency was needed, CEO Jim Rowan said in a statement. "Economic headwinds, increased raw material prices and increased competition are likely to remain a challenge to our industry for some time," he said. The 1,300 positions equate to 6% of Volvo Cars' workforce in Sweden. Rowan told Reuters the group did not yet know how much it would save from the new measures. "We're still working the details through on that," he said in an interview. The company said it had issued redundancy notices for 1,100 employees, while the remaining 200 white-collar positions would be identified following a review of the business across Sweden. It said it also expected to cut jobs and reduce costs across its global operations in the coming months, including its consultancies. Rowan said he could not yet specify where those jobs would be cut, but that focus would primarily remain on office-based positions. "We sell in over 80 countries or so worldwide, so I think there's opportunities for us to become more efficient across the entire network," he told Reuters. Volvo Cars shares were down 3.87% at 0848 GMT.   Earnings/Financials Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Volvo SUV Luxury