2006 Volvo S80 2.5t Awd Turbocharged 4 Door Sedan on 2040-cars

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Subprime financing on the rise in new car sales, leasing too

We all remember the financial crisis that began several years back. At its core was a splurge of subprime lending for housing loans. The housing bubble burst, triggering a collapse of the mortgage-backed securities market. Apparently, those types of loans still exist in the automotive industry, and the market share for these types of "nonprime, subprime, and deep subprime," loans has grown 13.6 percent compared to the third quarter a year ago.
According to an Automotive News report, high-risk lending expanded to 24.8 percent of total loans in Q3, up from 21.9 percent for this time last year. As this level increased, average credit scores of borrowers dropped to 755, down from 763 a year ago. In that time, the average financing amount increased $90 per vehicle, to $25,963.
At 818, Volvo maintains the highest per-owner credit score, while Mitsubishi has the lowest, at 694. The highest rate of borrowers was at Toyota, with 14 percent of the market, followed by Ford with 13.1 percent and Chevrolet at 11.1.

Embrace one-pedal driving in EVs and PHEVs

I just came back from a trip out to California, where I was able to drive the new 2022 Volvo XC60 Recharge in its new extended-range form (you’ll find that review on Autoblog tomorrow). One of the newly-added headline features for this plug-in hybrid SUV is true one-pedal driving. This is one-pedal driving in a PHEV, not a full battery electric vehicle, and as of now, one-pedal driving in PHEVs is exceedingly rare. Other plug-ins may offer levels of braking regeneration, but one-pedal driving is typically a feature reserved for full EVs. Adding the feature to the Volvo is a huge boost to the driving experience for me, and I sincerely hope we see it in even more PHEVs soon. In case youÂ’re new to the one-pedal driving game, hereÂ’s a quick explainer. ItÂ’s called “one-pedal” because most of the time, youÂ’re only using one pedal to accelerate and decelerate. Press in to accelerate; let off evenly and gently to decelerate via regenerative braking. The trick at the end is in slowing down the final few mph and bringing the car to a stop smoothly, which typically requires some practice and time spent figuring out how best to modulate the throttle pedal. Once youÂ’re stopped in a car with one-pedal driving, it should hold itself in place when you have your foot off the throttle, allowing you to relax your legs at lights. Applying pressure to the brake pedal would be unnecessary so long as traffic doesnÂ’t necessitate quicker deceleration than what the car is capable of via letting off on the throttle. The point, of all of the above, is that one-pedal driving in an EV or PHEV simply makes driving easier. Once you learn the car, not having to swap back and forth between the throttle and brake pedals makes stop-and-go traffic (or any kind of driving) a lot more relaxing to manage. The point of this story is to call out the lack of this feature in some EVs and nearly all PHEVs. Some of you may have already hit the comments to voice your disdain for one-pedal driving, but do note, while IÂ’m advocating for the feature to be present in all EVs, IÂ’m not advocating for it to be a required always-on feature. In fact, you should be able to turn it off and on at your whimsy. Many car manufacturers already offer one-pedal driving in their EVs, but companies like VW, Audi, Porsche and to a certain extent, Mercedes, do not. This is slightly irritating, mostly because those companies make some of the most desirable EVs on the market today.

Greetings from Trollhattan. I'm Emily, but I'm not a Saab.

What’s Swedish for “never give up”? Saab, apparently. The fondly-remembered car company formerly called just that — and now named NEVS — is only a shell, employing just a limited crew in the land of trolls. But itÂ’s got something to sell, and that something seems like it's really something. ItÂ’s called Emily. The Emily GT exists as six prototype electric cars, according to NEVS, with a combined horsepower rating (per car) of 484 powered by an enormous 175-kilowatt lithium-ion battery thatÂ’s good for 600 miles of range. In development almost since Saab's demise — the company, once owned by General Motors, was closed down in 2010 — the Emily is a very real product and needs a real sponsor, according to NEVS CEO Nina Selander, speaking to Carup. “It is for sale, it is also a joy to be able to show it. It should be allowed to live on, itÂ’s too nice, too good and too modern a car for nothing to come of it. Interested parties are welcome,” she said. Photos of the car show a modern, forward-thrust profile with handsome lines, a look similar to the last Saab 9-5 and VolvoÂ’s S60 (must be a Swedish thing) and a fashionable, sci-fi-ish interior. A hopeful engineer on the project estimates that the car is less than two years away from some kind of series production, but according to the modest NEVS website, the company is currently in “hibernation” even as it continues to solicit buyers for the Emilys. Said Peter Dahl, the Emily project manager, “Many have asked us what we have been doing for 10 years. We have developed 13 different car projects, this is one of them.” Related video: Volvo Saab Automotive History Electric Future Vehicles Classics