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Tesla poaches Volvo interior engineering boss Anders Bell

Tesla is the belle of both the eco-friendly and luxury balls. The company's Model S and Model X are status symbols, and benchmarks for the ability to blend both green credentials with performance and a luxury driving experience. That said, their cabins aren't necessarily deserving of those credentials. That's why this little news nugget is such a big deal for the California brand. Electrek reports that Tesla has poached Anders Bell from Volvo. Bell confirmed the move via his LinkedIn page. The (now former) head of interior engineering and senior director of engineering was responsible for the Swedish brand's raft of high-quality, beautifully crafted cabins. Doubtless Tesla wants a piece of the critical acclaim Volvo's received for the interior design and quality on its 90-series models – XC90, S90, and V90. The move is, at least based on Electrek's stalking of Bell's LinkedIn profile, a big loss for Volvo. Bell joined the Swedish brand fresh out of Halmstad College's engineering program in 1998 and has spent his entire career working for Gothenburg and its various owners. That included a nearly four-year stint in China after Geely bought Volvo from Ford, assisting with the Chinese launch of the XC60. Bell's listed his final project with his previous employer as "development, design, and release of Volvo interiors to be launched 2017-2018 and concept definitions of interiors 2019 and beyond." That means that while Bell started at Palo Alto this month, his impact at Volvo won't fade for several more years. Related Video: News Source: Electrek via Jalopnik Green Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Tesla Volvo volvo s90

Man convicted of spying on truck maker Scania for the Russians

STOCKHOLM — A Swedish court on Wednesday sentenced a 47-year-old man to three years in prison for spying for Russia, which involved selling secret information from truck maker Scania. The court said it had found the man guilty of acquiring and selling the secret information from the truck maker to a Russian embassy official. The court acquitted the man of similar espionage charges at Geely-owned carmaker Volvo Cars. "To be convicted of espionage, it is required that Sweden's security can be damaged if the information benefits foreign powers," the court said in a statement. "The district court has ruled that this is the case with regard to the information that the man obtained from Scania, while it has not been proven that this is the case with regard to the information from Volvo." The court statement said the man regularly received cash at his meetings with the Russian embassy official, which it considered was compensation for the information provided. The man, who has denied wrongdoing, was apprehended whilst meeting the diplomat in a restaurant, having just received 27,800 Swedish krona ($3,242). He worked as a consultant for Volvo Cars in 2016 and 2017 and for Scania in 2018 and 2019, until he was arrested. The man's lawyer said he would appeal. Scania is owned by truck maker Traton. Government/Legal Volvo Scania

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.