2016 Volvo S60 T5 Premier on 2040-cars

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2025 Volvo S60 the last model year for the sedan in the U.S.

Once Volvo finally got the EX90 headed down assembly lines at the automaker's South Carolina plant, the plant's other product, the S60 sedan, was on borrowed time. A few days after the EX90 news, Instagram account volvo.forlife posted a pic with the caption, "Did you know that with the start of production of the @volvocars #VolvoEX90 at the Charleston, South Carolina plant, the production of the #VolvoS60 will also be coming to an end?" The S60 got about three more days of borrowed time, Volvo telling Road & Track that "After five years Volvo Cars is ending production of the S60 sedan in Ridgeville, South Carolina at the end of June 2024 for the U.S. and some other markets to focus on the all-new EX90." We suspect the sedan would have died earlier if EX90 production had commenced on time. The reprieve could have given the news more time to infiltrate the back channels, and might help explain why S60 sales are up 255% so far this year. Volvo's Chengdu, China plant that also makes the S60 will continue to do so, but those cars aren't coming here. The South Carolina facility can now concentrate on ramping up output of the Volvo EX90, already underway, and the Polestar 3, which commences local shortly. We haven't had an S60 sit through Autoblog exams for a bit, but the the sedan's seen no major revisions since we last drove the current third generation introduced in 2019. We lauded it for fantastic styling, a luxurious interior, and robust tech, dinging it only for a braking system not totally prepared for a driver to enjoy the dynamic potential of a 4,000-pound sedan with 400 horsepower and 472 pound-feet of torque.    That T8 Inscription trim is no more, but the rest of the S60's plaudits remain valid. Until inventory dries up, the S60 comes in three trims priced from about $45,000 to $53,000 before options. All are powered by turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder mild hybrid making a combined 247 horsepower and 248 pound-feet of torque, in front- or all-wheel-drive, and rated to tow 2,000 pounds.    

Volvo Cars laying off 1,300 as it steps up cost cuts

Volvo Cars will lay off around 1,300 office-based employees in Sweden as it steps up cost cutting, the Sweden-based automaker said on Thursday. While an earlier efficiency drive had begun to show results, with Volvo this week reporting a strong first quarter, more efficiency was needed, CEO Jim Rowan said in a statement. "Economic headwinds, increased raw material prices and increased competition are likely to remain a challenge to our industry for some time," he said. The 1,300 positions equate to 6% of Volvo Cars' workforce in Sweden. Rowan told Reuters the group did not yet know how much it would save from the new measures. "We're still working the details through on that," he said in an interview. The company said it had issued redundancy notices for 1,100 employees, while the remaining 200 white-collar positions would be identified following a review of the business across Sweden. It said it also expected to cut jobs and reduce costs across its global operations in the coming months, including its consultancies. Rowan said he could not yet specify where those jobs would be cut, but that focus would primarily remain on office-based positions. "We sell in over 80 countries or so worldwide, so I think there's opportunities for us to become more efficient across the entire network," he told Reuters. Volvo Cars shares were down 3.87% at 0848 GMT.   Earnings/Financials Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Volvo SUV Luxury

Daimler and Volvo plan hydrogen fuel cell truck production in 2025

LONDON — Daimler's truck unit and Volvo said on Thursday they would start making hydrogen fuel cells in Europe in 2025 via a joint venture, and called for EU policies to help make the zero-emission technology commercially viable. The rival German and Swedish makers of large freight-hauling trucks formed their venture, Cellcentric, in March. They said they would provide more details on large-scale fuel production in 2022, but said Cellcentric was already scaling up prototype output. "Partnerships like Cellcentric are vital to our commitment to decarbonizing road transport," Volvo Chief Executive Martin Lundstedt said in a statement. Aside from the fuel-cell joint venture, the two companies remain competitors. Both hope to test fuel-cell trucks in about three years and start mass producing trucks in the second half of this decade. The European Union has been pushing tighter emission standards, fueling a boom in zero-emission electric cars. But batteries in electric vehicles are very heavy, and hydrogen fuel cells are seen as a potentially more viable zero-emission power systems for long-haul freight in the future. Fuel cells produce electricity from hydrogen, emitting only water. The two truck makers called for the construction of around 300 hydrogen refueling stations suitable for heavy-duty vehicles in Europe by 2025 and about 1,000 stations by 2030. During a video conference with the two firms, European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean said the commission would this summer propose a revised alternative fuels directive. She said this "will include binding requirements for rolling out hydrogen fueling infrastructure ... and financial support will be available where needed." Automaker Stellantis said this year it would begin deliveries in Europe of its first medium-sized vans powered by hydrogen fuel cells by the end of 2021. Stellantis said at the time that Germany had 90 hydrogen stations and France had 25 — a tiny fraction of the thousands of petrol stations available for fossil-fuel vehicles today. As zero-emission trucks are significantly more expensive than fossil-fuel models, Daimler and Volvo said a "policy framework is needed to ensure demand and affordability." The two companies said policies should include subsidies for "CO2-neutral technologies and a taxation system based on carbon and energy content." Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.