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Volvo launches XC90 configurator site

In many ways the 2016 Volvo XC90 defines the future of the Swedish brand. The SUV is the introduction of the company's Scalable Product Architecture modular platform that should underpin most of its future models. It's also the first big chance to see whether consumers accept a model like this that's only available with four-cylinder power, granted a mill that is both turbocharged and supercharged. The configurator for this Swedish hopeful is just hitting the Web giving customers a chance to see what they think.
The only available powertrain on the XC90 at the moment is the 2.0-liter Drive-E with 316 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. The base price starts at $48,900, plus $925 for destination, but that number can balloon quite quickly. Upgrading to the R-Design package tacks on $4,000 or the even plusher Inscription package adds $5,600.
Furthermore, there are several option packages to add some extra tech and comfort to the SUV. The Vision Package with a backup cam is an extra $1,600, two versions of the Climate package to keep occupants warm come to $1,050 and $1,950, respectively, and the Convenience Package that includes adaptive cruise control adds $2,000. Depending on trim, there are up to 13 colors available in an attractive variety, although all but two add $550 to the price. There are also a wide variety of leather upholsteries to choose from.

Celebrate Volvo's 89th birthday with some neat facts

Volvo, arguably Sweden's best-known non-ABBA export, will celebrate the big 9-0 next year. The company has always operated somewhat under the radar, but it has its share of stories to tell despite an image formed by decades of solid, safe, and sensible cars. To celebrate the occasion, here are five lesser-known facts about Sweden's last remaining car brand. 1. It opened North America's first foreign car plant. Idyllic Halifax was a small fishing city of about a quarter-million in the early 1960s when Volvo arrived and became the first import brand to build cars en masse in North America. American consumers on the East Coast developed a fondness for the Volvo Amazon line in the late 1950s, leading Volvo to seek out a plant in the Americas. Halifax ponied up incentives, allowing Volvo to take advantage of a pact eliminating tariffs on cars built and exported between the United States and Canada. Volvo built cars there until the end of 1998, when it said its facility was no longer viable compared to larger factories in Europe. That brings us to The Netherlands, where Volvo bought a quirky, innovative automaker that once sold a car called the Daffodil (which was actually its luxury model). 2. You can thank Volvo for CVTs – even though it doesn't use them. Volvo wasn't interested in picking flowers. It wanted the automotive arm of truck manufacturer DAF, which would include its assembly plant, its Renault engines, and the first mainstream application of the CVT gearbox. Volvo acquired DAF's car business over the course of a few years in the early 1970s and, in typical Volvo safety-oriented style, it slapped big bumpers and head restraints on the little DAF 66 and rebadged it as the Volvo 66. The Dutch assembly plant would grow to include a partnership with Mitsubishi in the early '90s. Today, it operates as NedCar and builds Mini Coopers for BMW. Volvo is no longer involved in NedCar or DAF (which sold its CVT division to Bosch, by the way), but its acquisition of DAF helped ensure the success of CVTs. Ironically, even though Volvo's investment helped make CVTs mainstream, the Swedish automaker's affair with them was brief, and today it utilizes only conventional automatics. 3. The Swedish carmakers were pals. Over its 89 years, Volvo has been closely connected to a number of automakers – most notably Ford, which ran the company for a decade, and its current owner Geely. But Volvo is most closely linked to its longtime competitor, Saab.

Aurora, Volvo partner on self-driving heavy trucks

Global heavy truck manufacturers are lining up technology partners to help build out self-driving systems for long-haul freight that could see widespread commercial service well before self-driving robotaxis. The latest alliance was announced Tuesday between Sweden's Volvo Group and California-based Aurora Innovation, building on a working relationship that dates back several years, the partners said. Analysts expect more such partnerships, as relatively young technology firms such as Aurora connect their autonomous vehicle systems knowledge with the deep manufacturing experience of legacy companies such as Volvo Trucks. “You can't go at it alone in autonomy," said Grayson Brulte, president consultancy Brulte & Company. "The trucking industry is a completely different personality" than the passenger vehicle business, with different requirements. Most of the larger truck manufacturers have turned to self-driving tech partners, driven in part by a chronic shortage of drivers and a boom in e-commerce, fueled by the global pandemic. In January, Aurora announced a strategic partnership with U.S. truckmaker PACCAR, whose brands include Peterbilt and Kenworth. Aurora's founders include self-driving veterans from Tesla and Alphabet's Waymo. Aurora last year said its first commercial product would be in trucking "where the market is largest (and) the unit economics are best." In 2020, Waymo Chief Executive John Krafcik told Reuters that "goods delivery is a bigger market than moving people" as Waymo expanded its focus to include heavy trucks. Germany's Daimler has formed a self-driving truck alliance with Waymo, while China's largest heavy truck maker, FAW Jiefang, has partnered with Plus AI. Volkswagen's Traton truck group is an investor in TuSimple, as is U.S. truckmaker Navistar. In a January earnings call, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk said the long-delayed Semi electric truck is highly likely to be the first of the company's vehicles to achieve full self-driving capability. Green Volvo Truck Autonomous Vehicles Commercial Vehicles volvo trucks Aurora