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Volvo opens order books for XC90 First Edition

The new Volvo XC90 breaks new ground in any number of ways. It's based on a new modular platform, packs new engines, introduces a new design language and incorporates a whole slew of new safety systems. Even in its sales approach, it takes Volvo into new territory.
In what Volvo calls an industry first, the first 1,927 examples of the new XC90 will be sold online. Those First Edition models, whose production numbers honor the year of the company's founding, will come fully equipped in T6 AWD guise with the twin-charged (but not hybrid) 316-horsepower engine, air suspension, Bowers & Wilkins audio system and 21-inch Inscription alloys, decked out in black with a tan Nappa leather interior, all for $65,900.
As you can see from the online store, ordering has officially begun. Get one while they're hot.

Last Volvo XC90 rolls off assembly line in Gothenburg

It was back in 1998 when Volvo set about developing its first SUV. The brief was to build a seven-seater that wasn't "too large", and several design proposals were considered. Three and a half years later Volvo revealed the XC90 at the 2002 Detroit Auto Show and the rest, as they say, is history.
Volvo initially had an eye towards selling 50,000 units per year. It achieved that and then some, selling around 85,000 examples per year between 2004 and 2007. Now, after 12 years and 636,143 examples made - still over that initial target on average despite its lingering age that see it selling just 11,000 units these past few years - the last Volvo XC90 rolled off the assembly line in Gothenburg.
That final example is heading straight to the Volvo Museum adjacent to the factory. But it won't, strictly speaking, be the last XC90. It is the last of that model to be built in Sweden, but a new model is on its way. And the current model will continue to be built in Daqing, China, to be sold locally as the Volvo XC Classic. So if you want to get your hands on a seven-seat Volvo crossover, you'll have to move there. Otherwise you can wait until the end of January 2015 for the new model to begin production.

Volvo returns to profitability

Ford sold Volvo to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Limited in 2010. Just two years later, Geely announced an $11-billion investment in the Swedish carmaker, its charismatic fugleman Li Shifu saying, "We want to revive Volvo and give the brand its strength back." Two years later, after having introduced the Concept XC Coupe at the Detroit Auto Show this week, Volvo CEO Håkan Samuelsson (above, second from right) declared the company profitable again after a solid 2013 and predicted a positive 2014.
Intending to break even on operating profit in 2013, Volvo exceeded expectations and landed on the plus side due to a mix of factors. US sales declined 10.1 percent for the year to 61,233, that number still making us Volvo's largest market, but Chinese sales were up nearly 46 percent to 61,146 units, and even its home market saw a bump of 0.8 percent; total sales for the year were 427,840, a margin of 1.4-percent over the previous year. Volvo was able to do more with the tiny gain and reverse its half-year operating loss because of a global cost restructuring and thorough revamp of its Chinese distribution network. An announcement of 2013's financial results will come in March.
Bullishness on 2014 comes from the company's intention to focus on its two biggest markets with new models, new technology and more spending. The first product of an independent Volvo, the new XC90, will be revealed later this year on the new SPA architecture. On top of the Sensus Connect infotainment system, Volvo will add driver-aid systems like adaptive cruise control with steer assist and night-time pedestrian detection. It also has a new North American CEO and will spend more on marketing and communications here. In China it will begin to feel more effect from the two Chinese factories opened last year - it has three in the country - and, if need be, can take advantage of more advantageous exchange rates by exporting from China instead of the US. Said Samuelsson of what he expects in the US in 2014, "we will outperform the market."