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Volvo details upcoming XC90's new scalable platform

In two weeks' time, we'll be boarding a flight for Stockholm for the live reveal of the new Volvo XC90. But before we do, Volvo has revealed another round of salient details regarding not only its new crossover, but a whole range of new vehicles to share its architecture.
That platform is called Scalable Product Architecture, and it follows the latest industry trend towards modular platforms. The product of four years' development, the new platform uses high-strength boron steel to optimize weight and rigidity. The scalable architecture, set to underpin the next-generation S60, V60, XC60, S80 and anything larger, offers designers more flexibility in terms of proportions. It can be adapted to a wide range of vehicles of different shapes and sizes, designed from the get-go to incorporate a range of powertrains (including the XC90's new twin-charged hybrid system) and all the latest safety technologies you'd expect from a Volvo.
The XC90, Volvo has revealed, will also offer increased interior flexibility, with movable second and third rows to optimize cargo space and legroom as needed. That third row is designed to accommodate children (or small adults) up to five-foot-seven. Meanwhile the image inset above gives us our first glimpse at the new XC90's styling, with T-shaped running lights inspired by Thor's hammer.

Volvo Concept Estate gets official [w/video]

The final chapter of Volvo's concept car trilogy has arrived after a few teasers earlier this week, as well as some recently leaked images, and as we so astutely summarized previously, it's a brown shooting brake. Really, we couldn't think of a better type of vehicle to follow up the Concept Coupe from the Frankfurt Motor Show, the Concept XC Coupe from the Detroit Auto Show and complete the Swedish trinity of concepts.
It's best to think of the Concept Estate as the hipper, classier cousin to the Concept Coupe. The two are virtually identical below the beltline, featuring front fascias that are indistinguishable from each other (except one is, you know, brown). Both cars wear wide, rectangular grilles inspired by classic Volvo models and T-shaped headlights Where the Concept Estate differs, obviously, is with its more functional rear end and longer roof.
That rear is accented by the Estate's wide haunches and slim, angular taillights, which borrow heavily from the units shown on the Concept XC Coupe. These two features work in tandem to present a wide, squat appearance from the rear. The profile, meanwhile, shows off that spacious greenhouse, which is made even airier by a glass roof.

Five vehicles named Top Safety Pick+ including new Civic, MKZ

In an attempt to help push vehicle safety to a higher level, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety created a stricter Top Safety Pick+ rating last year, which incorporates a brutal small overlap test and requires cars to get Good ratings in four out of the five categories (and no less than Acceptable in the fifth). Joining the list of the safest cars of 2013, the 2013 Volvo XC60, Lincoln MKZ, Honda Civic (sedan and coupe) and the 2014 Mazda6 have all received the coveted TSP+ rating.
The Mazda6 and Lincoln MKZ have both been completely redesigned, and both received Acceptable ratings in the small overlap test. The Honda Civic, coming off its emergency refresh for 2013, is the first small car to be subjected to the small overlap test, and IIHS says that one of the car's many upgrades includes a stiffer front structure allowing it to receive Good ratings in all categories. Similarly, the XC60 gets all Good ratings thanks to, according to IIHS, Volvo updating the airbag software allowing the side airbags to inflate during the small overlap test.
The 2014 Subaru Forester has not yet been subjected to the small overlap test, so it must make do with just a Top Safety Pick rating until the IIHS tests small utility vehicles, which is expected to happen later in the spring.