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Junkyard Gem: 2012 Volvo C30 T5 with 6-speed manual

Every year, fewer new vehicles are available in the United States with manual transmissions (though the ancient five-on-the-floor still exists… for now). American Volvo buyers preferred three-pedal setups in their cars later than some, though even they had mostly fallen out of love with manuals by the time the 1990s dawned. Still, some stubborn holdouts kept demand for the once-beloved gearbox technology alive here, until Geely-owned Volvo axed the manual transmission for the U.S. market after the 2013 model year. The final three-pedal Volvo sold here was the C30, and I've found one of those rare machines in a New Orleans car graveyard. The C30 was a cool-looking two-door hatchback that borrowed some styling influences from the the beloved 1800ES shooting brake. The biggest problem with it in the United States was that two-doors and hatchbacks in general no longer enticed many potential buyers into signing on the line which is dotted. The U.S.-market 2012 C30 came with a 2.5-liter turbocharged straight-five engine rated at 227 horsepower and 236 pound-feet, and owners could buy the Polestar Performance software upgrade to increase those numbers to 250 horses and 273 pound-feet. That made for a respectably quick machine with its curb weight of just 3,200 pounds. The six-on-the-floor manual was base equipment; if you wanted the five-speed automatic, the cost was $1,250 more ($1,711 in 2024 dollars). This is a base T5 model, so its MSRP was $24,950. That's about $34,159 after inflation. The C30 was discontinued after the 2013 model year, after many years of underwhelming sales numbers here. This one looked to have been in very nice cosmetic condition when it arrived here, so we can assume that it suffered some costly mechanical malfunction. There's more to life than a Volvo. That's why you drive one. There was an English-language version of this ad, but I prefer the Swedish one. The previous commercial dared to show a manual transmission, but the car in this ad has the slushbox. Is it ugly or is it beautiful?

US could get Chinese Volvos soon, possibly Geely joint-venture subcompact?

After a little more than three years since Volvo was acquired by China's Geely, it was only a matter of time before products from this marriage started to show up in the US. Although nothing seems to be written in stone, Automotive News is reporting that the US could be getting Chinese-made Volvos sooner rather than later.
In speaking with AN, Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said that Chinese Volvos could be exported to the US "fairly quickly," and while there was no word on any specific models being considered, the article points out that the S60 (shown above) is already being produced locally in China at a Volvo plant. Another possibility is the next-gen V40, which has reportedly received plenty of support from US Volvo dealers. Regardless of which model it is, Samuelsson doesn't seem too worried about a "Made in China" car receiving a negative reaction by US consumers, pointing to all the other Chinese products sold here.
On a global scale, AN is also reporting that Geely is working on a new subcompact platform co-developed with Volvo to compete against cars like the Honda Fit, Ford Fiesta and VW Polo. There is no word as to whether or not this Geely-branded model would be coming to the US, but just last year, we heard that the Chinese automaker is looking to break into the US market by 2016.

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