2001 Volvo V70xc Needs Work on 2040-cars

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Volvo Cars hopes to raise $2.9 billion in its stock IPO

STOCKHOLM/LONDON — Geely-owned Volvo Cars plans to raise 25 billion Swedish crowns ($2.9 billion) through an initial public offering (IPO), the Swedish carmaker said on Monday of what would be one of Europe's biggest listings this year. Volvo said it will list on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange this year and that Chinese owner Geely Holding would remain its biggest shareholder. In 2018, Volvo Cars and Geely, which also owns an 8.2% stake in Sweden's Volvo Trucks, postponed plans to float shares in the Swedish carmaker, citing trade tensions and a downturn in automotive stocks. "Volvo Cars believes that its unique structure and focused strategy makes it one of the fastest transformers in the global automotive industry, with mid-decade ambitions dedicated to electrification, sustainability and digitization," the Swedish company said in a statement. Like a number of other carmakers, Volvo has committed to shifting its entire car range to fully-electric models by 2030. Volvo said is targeting an operating margin of between 8% and 10% by 2025. It is also aiming for annual sales of 1.2 million cars, up 56% from the 770,000 it sold in the 12 months to June 20 this year. Electric push The carmaker said it expects 50% of sales to be fully electric cars by the middle of the decade and that 50% of sales will be made online rather than in dealerships. Volvo Cars said earlier on Monday that its sales in September fell 30% from a year earlier, dented by the global components shortage. Sources told Reuters last month that Geely was in advanced discussions with banks to list the Swedish company in the coming weeks, aiming for a valuation of about $20 billion. Volvo Cars had previously said it was considering a Stockholm listing in the second half of 2021. A Volvo spokesperson on Monday said that the company had no comment on valuation or on how much of the business would be sold in the IPO. "There will be further information published in connection with the prospectus," she said. Electric-car maker Polestar, which is owned by Geely and Volvo, last week said it will go public by merging with a U.S.-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by billionaire Alec Gores and investment bank Guggenheim Partners at an enterprise value of $20 billion. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2022 Volvo C40 Recharge charging

Autoblog Podcast #317

Mitsubishi Mirage, Toyota thinks of beefing up US production, Marchionne on Alfa, Dart and minivans, Ford Atlas concept, Honda Gear concept
Episode #317 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Jeff Ross and Michael Harley bookend the other podcast topics with a pair from the Montreal Auto Show, the Mitsubishi Mirage and Honda Gear concept, and in between we talk about Toyota building all its US-market cars stateside, Hyundai building a Nurburgring test facility, Sergio Marchionne's latest words about Alfa Romeo, Dodge Dart powertrains and the future of Chrysler vans. Some chatter about the Ford Atlas concept finishes up the meat of the 'cast and then we wrap with your questions. For those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Keep reading for our Q&A module for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #317:

The next-generation wearable will be your car

This year's CES has had a heavy emphasis on the class of device known as the "wearable" – think about the Apple Watch, or Fitbit, if that's helpful. These devices usually piggyback off of a smartphone's hardware or some other data connection and utilize various onboard sensors and feedback devices to interact with the wearer. In the case of the Fitbit, it's health tracking through sensors that monitor your pulse and movement; for the Apple Watch and similar devices, it's all that and some more. Manufacturers seem to be developing a consensus that vehicles should be taking on some of a wearable's functionality. As evidenced by Volvo's newly announced tie-up with the Microsoft Band 2 fitness tracking wearable, car manufacturers are starting to explore how wearable devices will help drivers. The On Call app brings voice commands, spoken into the Band 2, into the mix. It'll allow you to pass an address from your smartphone's agenda right to your Volvo's nav system, or to preheat your car. Eventually, Volvo would like your car to learn things about your routines, and communicate back to you – or even, improvise to help you wake up earlier to avoid that traffic that might make you late. Do you need to buy a device, like the $249 Band 2, and always wear it to have these sorts of interactions with your car? Despite the emphasis on wearables, CES 2016 has also given us a glimmer of a vehicle future that cuts out the wearable middleman entirely. Take Audi's new Fit Driver project. The goal is to reduce driver stress levels, prevent driver fatigue, and provide a relaxing interior environment by adjusting cabin elements like seat massage, climate control, and even the interior lighting. While it focuses on a wearable device to monitor heart rate and skin temperature, the Audi itself will use on-board sensors to examine driving style and breathing rate as well as external conditions – the weather, traffic, that sort of thing. Could the seats measure skin temperature? Could the seatbelt measure heart rate? Seems like Audi might not need the wearable at all – the car's already doing most of the work. Whether there's a device on a driver's wrist or not, manufacturers seem to be developing a consensus that vehicles should be taking on some of a wearable's functionality.