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China's Geely buying majority stake in Lotus

Geely, the Hong Kong car company that owns Volvo, is acquiring control of British car company Lotus. Geely is purchasing a 51-percent stake in Lotus from struggling Malaysian car company Proton, and a 49.9 percent stake in Proton itself. Etika Automotive will gain the other 49 percent of Lotus. France's PSA Group and Japan's Suzuki had apparently also been interested in acquiring Proton. Geely says it plans to revive both Proton and Lotus. "The agreement lays the foundation for a wider framework for both Geely Holding, Proton and Lotus to explore joint synergies in areas such as research and development, manufacturing and market presence," Geely said in a news release. Those joint synergies will be highlighted by the lightweight chassis technology Lotus is known for, which could help Geely improve fuel efficiency. Geely CFO Daniel Donghui Li said the company aims to "unleash the full potential of Lotus Cars" by expanding and accelerating new products and technologies. Proton was nationally held but was privatized in 2007 to Malaysian conglomerate DRB-Hicom, which is owned by tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary. It was supposed to be the flagship for Malaysia's economic development.Though it owns two factories, Proton mainly rebadges foreign-made cars and sells them in Malaysia. What it has, what Geely presumably wants, is a distribution network in Southeast Asia to pit Chinese cars against Japanese automotive dominance in the region. Retaining a 50.1-percent stake in Proton is seen as a face-saving move. "Proton will always remain a national car and a source of pride, as Proton will still have a majority hold of 50.1 percent," Malaysian finance official Johari Abdul Ghani said. "Our very own much-loved brand now has a real chance in making a comeback, a huge one I hope." Related Video:

Volvo XC40 and C40 electrics get new motors, more horsepower, longer range

Late last year came reports of improved versions of the Volvo XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge for Europe. Configurators over the Atlantic showed there wouldn't just be new rear-wheel-drive models, but more battery, more range, and faster charging. The Swedes have finally published the official list of updates, the tweaks even better than the reportage and websites showed. First, the rumors are true, Volvo is back in the rear-driver game after 25 years on the sidelines. The automaker took the previous e-motors off the front axle, putting its in-house-developed, more powerful, and more efficient e-motor on the rear axle. This first use of the new e-motors bumps output from 228 horsepower to 235 horsepower in the RWD trims when combined with the 60-kWh standard range battery. That, plus cooling improvements for the pack, means the XC40 Recharge's range jumps from 425 kilometers on the WLTP cycle to 460 km (285 miles), the C40 Recharge's range going from 438 km to 476 km (296 miles). Plugged into a charger capable of at least 130 kW, refilling from 10% to 80% takes about 34 minutes.  We specified "standard range battery" because another new treat is a second RWD trim: Volvo will plug its 82-kWh battery into the powertrain for those willing to pay. But wait, there's more: The big pack powers an even juicier e-motor making 248 hp. The added gumption boosts range in the XC40 Recharge to 515 km (320 miles), in the C40 Recharge to 533 km (331 miles). And again, improved cooling permits uprated charging speed of 200 kW, cutting the run from 10% to 80% SOC to approximately 28 minutes. Dual-motor variants make the change to asymmetric output as revealed before, giving up two 201-hp e-motors for a new 156-hp motor on the front axle and that in-house 248 hp motor on the rear. In conjunction with better cooling, the XC40 Recharge Twin Motor climbs to 500 km (311 miles) of range on a charge, a 62-km hike, the C40 Recharge Twin Motor to 507 km (315 miles), a 56-km enhancement.  Marginal gains also come from a set of more aerodynamic 19-inch wheels.  The updated twin-motor siblings are expected to enter production in May, the single-motor versions in the fall. We only get the Twin Motor models here. If our variants reflected the same range extensions as in Europe, the 14% rise for the XC40 Recharge would give our car a 255-mile range, the C40 a 12% boost to 254 miles of range.

Volvo reveals 400-hp twin-charged PHEV power for new XC90 [UPDATE]

UPDATE: An earlier version of this post indicated that the larger of the conventional diesel engines was a five-cylinder. However all three powertrains announced for the upcoming new XC90 are actually four-cylinder engines. The text has been updated accordingly.
Volvo rolled in to new territory when it introduced the original XC90 back in 2002, creating its first SUV and one of its top-selling models. But that was 12 years ago. In the meantime it's followed up with the smaller XC60, but what the brand faithful and the industry at large have been looking forward to most is the arrival of the new XC90.
Previewed by the Concept XC Coupe at the Detroit Auto Show, the new XC90 is set to arrive later this year, but to keep us on our toes, the Swedish automaker has been steadily trickling out a stream of information and photos. Two months ago it gave us a glimpse inside the cabin, and last month it revealed its new infotainment system, but now Volvo has released details on the upcoming new XC90's powertrain.