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IIHS says these are the safest cars of 2013

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has revealed its annual list of Top Safety Picks, an award that highlights automobiles it says offer "superior crash protection." A new and still more significant award, the Top Safety Pick+ honor, is given to those vehicles that earn good ratings for occupant protection in four out of five areas of measure. And while some 117 vehicles were given the TSP seal of approval for 2013, just 13 passed muster for TSP+.
To be fair, IIHS only evaluated 29 vehicles with its new testing procedures for TSP+ (we'd expect that the number of qualified cars will rise substantially for 2014). Luxury and Near Luxury midsize cars were the first groups evaluated, followed by midsizers in the Moderately Priced Cars category - unsurprisingly, it's only midsize cars that you'll find among the class this year.
Only two luxury sedans made the list of 13 for 2013: the Acura TL and Volvo S60. The other 11 cars on the list included entries from domestic, Japanese and German car makers: Dodge Avenger, Chrysler 200, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord (sedan and coupe), Kia Optima (but not its close kin, the Hyundai Sonata, strangely), Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Suzuki Kizashi and the Volkswagen Passat all made the grade.

Volvo recommits to Sweden with development of next-gen platform and engines

Taking into account the facts that Volvo is now owned by China's Geely and how poorly the European automotive market has been recently, we would have definitely understood if Volvo moved production of its products out of its home market. And yet, the automaker has confirmed that it will be investing billions of dollars into new platforms and engines that will be made in Sweden. On a global scale, Volvo is making roughly $11 billion of investments, and close to half of that is being earmarked for Sweden for plant expansion and upgrades.
The new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform will be the used as the basis for most future Volvo products starting with the next-generation XC90 that will be debuting at the end of 2014. SPA will be used to make up two-thirds of Volvo's sales, and gives Volvo a quicker and easier break from Ford-derived platforms. As for the Volvo Engine Architecture (VEA) family of engines, there are really no details about this mill except that it will be a four-cylinder that is more fuel efficient than current engines.
Scroll down for the Volvo press release.

Volvo updates XC60 and adds Android-based infotainment to more models

The 2022 Volvo XC60 is getting a number of minor updates, plus Volvo is rolling out its Android-based infotainment system to more of its lineup. Starting with the XC60 news, Volvo is subtly adapting the front and rear bumper styling. It gets new front side intakes and a massaged lower bumper opening. Neither of those nearly unnoticeable changes do much to influence our opinion of the car. The new rear bumper design reveals a slight character adjustment, though. Like other recently-updated Volvos, the exhaust exit is made invisible under the car — there are no longer any exhaust pipes exiting from the rear. The dual exhaust seen on the regular XC60 was a nice touch, but this is simply more of Volvo preparing us for the electric future to come. As for tech, Volvo says that the XC60 will be one of the models to get the Android-based infotainment for 2022. The 2022 S90, V90 and V90 Cross Country will be adding this infotainment system, too. It comes with something Volvo is calling the “Digital Services Package” for four years at no cost. This package includes the Google Assistant, Google Maps, access to Google Play apps, the Volvo On Call app, a data/internet connection and access to the wireless phone charger. After four years, Volvo says that “customers can continue to use the package by opting for an extension.” The “extension” will certainly involve paying Volvo for continued access to the programs (though Volvo hasn't said how much yet), similar to BMW and its proposed subscription-based vehicle feature model. Seeing what you get with the package, itÂ’s made such that you need the package to make the infotainment system useful. Losing access to Google services with a Google-based infotainment system seems crippling on the surface, and VolvoÂ’s tying of the wireless phone charger functionality to this subscription service is also irksome.  Volvo is just introducing this package, and weÂ’re sure it will change over time as it matures, so this likely isnÂ’t the last weÂ’ll hear of the “Digital Services Package” story. ChargePoint in-car app View 5 Photos Lastly, Volvo is adding a new in-car ChargePoint app to its Android infotainment system that should simplify the charging process. It eliminates any need for you to get your phone or credit card out when you pull up to a charging station, assuming you're using a ChargePoint charger.