1994 Volvo 850 Low Miles on 2040-cars

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Volvo V70 and XC70 and Ocean Race special editions wash ashore ahead of Geneva

Volvo will unveil the third in its series of new concepts to the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, but it will also bring a flotilla of special editions to the Swiss show. The V70 and XC70 are getting limited-edition models called simply Edition, and the V40, V40 Cross Country, V60 and XC60 will have Volvo Ocean Race Editions.
The Edition models outfit the cars with an extra sprinkling of style. The V70 Edition gets high-gloss black trim on the grille, mirror caps, side window frames and tailgate and rides on silver, 17-inch wheels with high-gloss black 17-inch and 18-inch wheels as options. The XC70 Edition adds some gloss black exterior upgrades too, plus high-gloss black, 18-inch diamond-cut wheels. Both models are swathed in black leather upholstery with cream stitching.
The Volvo Ocean Race Editions celebrate the brand's sponsorship of a 38,739-nautical-mile yacht race that will circumnavigate the world from 2014 to 2015. All of them sport the race logo on the tread plates, front fenders, infotainment display on start-up and special seven-spoke wheels. Inside, there is the choice of black or blonde leather seats with orange stitching. The 60-series cars also sport a map of the race route on the rear load cover.

Why Mazda did so well and Volvo so poorly in Consumer Reports survey

The poor performances of Tesla and all three domestic automakers got the headlines in Consumer Reports magazine's latest reliability survey, but there were other results that caught our interest. Tiny Mazda notched the biggest gain among the 29 brands included in this year's list, leap-frogging nine spots to No. 3. Buick, which was in the top 10 last year, fell 11 spots to No. 19, the biggest decline of any brand. And then there's Volvo, a brand often vaunted for its quality and reliability, dropping six spots to dead last. What gives? For starters, all three brands benefited or suffered in large part due to their relatively small portfolio of vehicles. So when raves or complaints rolled in for even one particular model, as was often the case, it weighed heavily on the entire brand. That's especially true when it involves a relatively high-volume, hot-selling model such as the Buick Enclave (more on that in a moment). Mazda fared as well as it did despite the CX-3 losing Consumer Reports' influential "recommended" status due to problems with its climate system, including leaks from the condenser and refrigerant unit that triggered a service bulletin from the automaker in late 2016. Deputy auto editor Jon Linkov said that scratch didn't hurt the overall brand, since the CX-9 crossover and MX-5 Miata both jumped up to replace it on CR's list of newly recommended vehicles, thanks to several back fixes Mazda made to both models. For Buick, the redesigned Enclave SUV earned a "Much Worse Than Average" rating after owners reported problems with the new nine-speed automatic transmission it shares with the Chevrolet Traverse as well as some issues with the climate system. There were issues with rough shifting, plus complaints about the torque converter that necessitated fixes to the computer or outright replacement. "Again, similar stuff that we saw with the Traverse: both first-year vehicles, similar powertrains," LInkov said. He said all-new vehicles or redesigns typically fare poorly in CR's reliability survey due to issues that are hard to suss out before vehicles go into everyday use by consumers. The top-selling Encore and Envision fared well, Linkov said, but were outdone by the Enclave's problematic transmission components. The Enclave was Buick's second best-selling model through September at 35,227 units. Then there is Volvo, about which there is one word to sum up its woes: infotainment.

Volvo shows glimpses of new Concept C Coupe ahead of Frankfurt [w/video]

Volvo has released a short teaser video for a concept car that will be unveiled on August 29 ahead of the Frankfurt Motor Show. At first glance, it would appear to be nothing more than a few sketches and some words from Volvo design boss Thomas Ingenlath, but at about the 11-second mark, four images are flashed on the screen revealing the true nature of the video - the Volvo Concept C Coupe.
As Inglenlath suggests in the video, this new concept is designed to help bring more excitement to the brand's lineup, and from what we can tell in these strategically captured shots, the company is definitely on to something. While we don't get too much of look from any one angle, the front reveals what appears to be a concave version of Volvo's signature grille and the side shows off a stylish greenhouse. We have to wonder, do these images confirm the identity of the mystery concept car that's been floating around the Internet this week? In either case, our favorite view is perhaps the rear shot giving us a glimpse of the car's name as well as its flat, wide haunches and C-shaped taillights.
Scroll down to watch the whole video, and if you don't have a trigger-quick mouse finger, don't worry. We made a gallery of screen shots showing the four embedded images.