2008 Volvo S40 2.5t on 2040-cars

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Volvo Concept Recharge previews the future of Volvo design and technology

Volvo has announced a whole slew of information about where the company is headed, from battery technology to advanced driver aids. And it was all capped by the concept car you see above, the Volvo Concept Recharge. It all shows that Volvo's future is stylish, electrified and featuring the latest in safety technology. So, in a way, pretty much exactly what you'd hope and expect. Volvo didn't say much about the specifications of the Concept Recharge, but its design will clearly influence future Volvo models, including the company's upcoming flagship electric SUV that will be revealed next year. The front ditches even faux grilles for a sculpted fascia. The shape does echo some of the look of a grille, particularly with the Volvo slash and badge in the middle. The "Thor's Hammer" headlights remain, and in the case of the concept, they have wild running lights that slide up and out of the way inside the housing to make way for the actual projector headlights at night time. The whole shape of the car is based around the electric powertrain. It has a low floor and glass roof that means the whole body can be made lower and sleeker without compromising space. The wheels are pushed to the far edges, too. At the back, the car has slim vertical taillights, continuing a Volvo design tradition. On the roof, there is a lidar sensor placed at the top of the windshield. This is a significant piece of Volvo's future, as its next generation of vehicles, starting with that aforementioned SUV, will all come with one of these sensors as standard. It will be used in combination with cameras, radar, real-time data, machine learning and mapping data to provide advanced driver aids, including what Volvo describes as "unsupervised autonomous" driving in specific circumstances. Basically, it will be SAE Level 3 autonomy, a step beyond the hands-free, but still supervised Level 2 systems such as GM's Super Cruise. It will only be available on specific roads in specific circumstances, and so it won't be able to handle the entire driving task from driveway to driveway. The company expects to offer this level of autonomy on highways first, and it will only be in specific areas to begin. It didn't give an exact timeline for the roll-out and it will be a more gradual increase over time, rather than everything being launched all at once. The company also emphasized that it will only begin launching the features when they're well and truly ready.

Current-generation Volvo XC90 will be sold alongside its successor

Volvo's next-generation XC90 sounds like it will be more of a revolution than a simple evolution — even the name will change. The firm doesn't want to alienate buyers, so it will sell the current-generation model alongside its replacement for at least a couple of years. Allegedly called Embla, the XC90's successor will inaugurate an evolution of the existing SPA2 platform and a number of driver-assistance features. Some rumors claim that it will be offered exclusively with an electric powertrain. Keeping the second-generation model around is a way for Volvo to prevent buyers who don't want an electric car and who don't need the latest and greatest tech features from going to the competition. Making the two people-movers in separate factories will ensure that both can be built without creating logistical issues. "That is an advantage of building the new one in Charleston, South Carolina. Why should we close down the old one in Torslanda when you still have a market for hybrids, especially in America and in China?," said outgoing company boss Hakan Samuelsson in an interview with Automotive News Europe. He stopped short of saying precisely how long the current-generation XC90 will remain in production for, however. Far from worrying about internal competition, Volvo plans to give the XC90 at least one more update in order to help it fend off a growing list of rivals, especially in key markets like the United States. "We will even look into upgrading it so it looks a bit better," he told the publication. As of writing, it's the oldest member of the Volvo range: it spearheaded the brand's revival when it made its debut for the 2016 model year. More information about the XC90's replacement will emerge in the coming months, and we expect to see the model in late 2022. When it lands, it will be clearly positioned as Volvo's flagship, a spot that the XC90 has occupied since the first-generation model arrived in 2002. As new cars become more advanced and correspondingly more expensive, keeping an older model around as a budget-oriented option is a strategy that's slowly gaining ground. Porsche confirmed that the current- and next-generation versions of the Macan will coexist for a few years for reasons not unlike Volvo's. Ram keeps the last-generation 1500 in its range and charges $6,385 less for it than for the new model. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

China's Geely says it has no plan to buy Fiat Chrysler — as FCA stock leaps

HONG KONG — Chinese carmaker Geely Automobile denied media speculation on Wednesday that it planned to make a takeover bid for Fiat Chryslerk Automobiles (FCA), the world's seventh-largest automaker. Geely was one of several Chinese carmakers cited in by Automotive News, which said representatives of "a well-known Chinese automaker" had made an offer this month for FCA, which has a market value of almost $20 billion. "We don't have such a plan at the moment," Geely executive director Gui Shengyue told reporters at an earnings briefing, when asked if Geely was interested in Fiat. He said a foreign acquisition would be complicated, but he did not elaborate. "But for other (Chinese) brands, it could be a fast track for their development," Gui added. However, a source close to the matter said FCA and Geely Automobile's parent firm, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, had held initial talks late last year, without disclosing their nature. The source confirmed Geely was no longer interested in FCA, noting that the parent company had only three months ago announced its first push into Southeast Asia with the purchase of 49.9 percent of struggling Malaysian carmaker Proton, a deal that also included a stake in Lotus. Geel's denial failed to dent FCA's stock. The price of its Milan-based shares has jumped more than 10 percent to a 19-year high since Automotive News first reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources, that FCA had rejected the Chinese offer as too low. FCA stock on the New York Stock Exchange rose sharply on Monday from $11.60 to $12.38 and on Wednesday was trading at $12.84. FCA declined to comment on Wednesday. FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne has repeatedly called for mergers as a way of sharing the costs of making cleaner, more advanced cars, but he has repeatedly failed to find a partner and retreated from his search for in April, saying FCA would stick to its business plan. He has also spoken of spinning the successful Jeep and Ram divisions off from FCA. Europe's largest carmaker, Volkswagen, and General Motors have both said they are not interested in talks with FCA. On Wednesday, Geely Automobile reported a doubling of first-half profit, above expectations, as cars designed with Sweden's Volvo won over domestic consumers. Volvo is a unit of the Zhejiang Geely group, and has recently announced it will share its technology with Geely.