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Watch Polestar talk about the development of its super S60

Polestar is getting ready to deliver its first production car, the Volvo S60 Polestar. Letting the S60 stretch its legs, Polestar Racing driver Robert Dahlgren took the blue sedan from Barcelona, Spain to Jokkmokk, Sweden - stopping for wet-weather testing in Germany along the way.
Dahlgren narrates the journey of the "pilot project" that has 350 horsepower and around 368 pound-feet of torque, and will perhaps be the first in an era of hardcore Volvo production cars. It will go on sale in Australia this Summer, with other markets "under investigation." While we non-Aussies wait with fingers crossed, there's a video below to enjoy.

Volvo shows inflatable child seat concept [w/video]

Volvo is bringing its emphasis on safety and design to the littlest members of the family with its concept for an inflatable, rearward facing child safety seat. The design is meant to help traveling families by offering a lighter and less bulky alternative to traditional car seats.
The design is quite ingenious. The seat is covered in drop-stitched fabric, which fills with air to create the form of the seat. An electric motor in it allows inflation and deflation in less than 40 seconds, according to Volvo. It weighs less than 5 kilograms (11 pounds) and folds small enough when collapsed to fit into a bag. It even has a Bluetooth connection, so parents can begin expanding it remotely.
The inflatable seat in the brainchild of Lawrence Abele, Volvo's design manager at its Monitoring and Concept Center in Los Angeles, CA. "For many, travelling with young children is a challenge; any assistance to simplify the parents' life with young children is a great thing," he said in a statement released by Volvo. The chair remains a concept for now, and the automaker isn't saying whether it's going to put it into production, but it's a clever solution to a common problem. Scroll down for a video showing it in action and to read the release.

How the Chinese tycoon driving Volvo plans to tackle Tesla

HANGZHOU, China — "Do you know how big Volvo is?" asked Don Leclair, finance chief at Ford. It was 2008, and Leclair was responding to an offer from a little-known Chinese businessman to purchase the Swedish carmaker, which Ford owned. The businessman, Li Shufu, had a company with less than half Volvo's sales and a flagship model, King Kong, almost unknown outside China. He was politely shown the door of the "Glass House," Ford's iconic headquarters near Detroit, according to two people who were at the meeting. Ford's Leclair did not respond to requests for comment about the episode. Fast-forward to 2021 and Li Shufu's company, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, is one of the biggest-selling automakers in the world's biggest auto market. It controls not only Volvo Cars but also a clutch of global auto brands, and a significant stake in German giant Daimler AG, the maker of Mercedes-Benz. These names are now part of its plans for a revolution in autos. Geely is preparing Volvo for a listing on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange as a route towards the future of transportation: One where cars are part of an electrified network of mobility services, driving themselves, connecting to each other and — like cellphones — generating an array of data and new business opportunities. It's a vision more Silicon Valley than Detroit, where traditional automakers globally are chasing another giant — Tesla Inc. Li Shufu and his advisers eventually convinced Ford to part with Volvo in 2010 for $1.8 billion. It was the first in a string of deals, tapping brands such as Lotus, Smart and the London Electric Vehicle Company to form a network that he calls a "bigger circle of friends" across industry segments. Li Shufu sees them as building blocks to help Geely compete in a future where autos are not vehicles, but "service providers," he told Reuters in his management suite at Geely's headquarters in Hangzhou, eastern China. In that business model, cars will be available on subscription and offer services such as making payments and in-car apps. They will update their own software, and spawn opportunities in the same way as the mobile operating systems developed by Apple Inc and Google. "We are trying to create an automotive ecosystem similar to Android," he said. Li Shufu, 58, recently adopted a foreign first name - Eric - because he liked the sound of it.