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Tesla poaches Volvo interior engineering boss Anders Bell

Tesla is the belle of both the eco-friendly and luxury balls. The company's Model S and Model X are status symbols, and benchmarks for the ability to blend both green credentials with performance and a luxury driving experience. That said, their cabins aren't necessarily deserving of those credentials. That's why this little news nugget is such a big deal for the California brand. Electrek reports that Tesla has poached Anders Bell from Volvo. Bell confirmed the move via his LinkedIn page. The (now former) head of interior engineering and senior director of engineering was responsible for the Swedish brand's raft of high-quality, beautifully crafted cabins. Doubtless Tesla wants a piece of the critical acclaim Volvo's received for the interior design and quality on its 90-series models – XC90, S90, and V90. The move is, at least based on Electrek's stalking of Bell's LinkedIn profile, a big loss for Volvo. Bell joined the Swedish brand fresh out of Halmstad College's engineering program in 1998 and has spent his entire career working for Gothenburg and its various owners. That included a nearly four-year stint in China after Geely bought Volvo from Ford, assisting with the Chinese launch of the XC60. Bell's listed his final project with his previous employer as "development, design, and release of Volvo interiors to be launched 2017-2018 and concept definitions of interiors 2019 and beyond." That means that while Bell started at Palo Alto this month, his impact at Volvo won't fade for several more years. Related Video: News Source: Electrek via Jalopnik Green Hirings/Firings/Layoffs Tesla Volvo volvo s90

Verizon buys Telogis in connected vehicle market push

(Note/disclaimer: We are owned by Verizon, by way of AOL. This gives us no inside track whatsoever when it comes to news.) With a lot of tech companies and automakers staking their claims in the connected car space, now there are signs that others are looking to move in, too. Today, telecoms giant Verizon announced that it is acquiring Telogis, a California-based company that develops cloud-based solutions for mobile workforces, and specifically telematics, compliance and navigation software used by Ford, Volvo, GM and other car companies, as well as Apple and AT&T. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, although we'll try to find out. Considering that Verizon in 2015 reported full-year revenues of $131.6 billion, the price would have to be very high to be considered "material" and may not be made public for some time, if ever. Telogis in its time as a startup raised a substantial amount of money, just over $126 million in all, including $93 million in 2013, supposedly ahead of an IPO, all from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Back in 2013 when KPCB made its investment (which was the first from a VC firm in the company), Telogis told TechCrunch it was profitable and forecasting revenues of $100 million annually for the year. It's not clear what size those revenues are now, but if it was on the same growth trajectory as before the funding, sales would be around $150 million annually, with profitability, at the moment. Other investors include some very notable strategics: the investment arm of General Motors, and Fontinalis Partners, which also invests in Lyft and was co-founded by Bill Ford, the executive chairman of the Ford Motor Company. Before the acquisition, Verizon actually had a business in fleet management and telematics; in fact, the two companies competed against each other for business from the trucking and other industries. Verizon Telematics, as the business is called, is active in 40 countries. But in a way, Verizon buying Telogis is a sign that the latter may have proved to be the more superior, and the one with the key customer deals.

Volvo credits China, Europe for first-half profitability

If everything goes to plan, Volvo might be showing the first signs of a turnaround after several years coping with old products and a staid image. The Swedish brand is imminently launching its next-gen XC90 SUV on a completely revised, modular platform and using a cutting-edge family of engines, and it has even more products to take advantage of the fresh components on the drawing board. "We are excited about the launch of the all-new XC90, which marks the beginning of the re-launch of the Volvo brand," said CEO Håkan Samuelsson in the company's announcement. In the meantime, the business is moving back to profitability and is even forecasting growth through the rest of 2014.
In Volvo's recently released financial and sales results for the first six months of the year, volume was up 9.5 percent to 299,013 cars. On top of that, operating income reached 1.21 billion Swedish krona ($175 million) after posting a loss in the same period in 2013. Net income was also improved to 535 million Swedish krona ($77.4 million), which was also a reversal from a negative last year.
With these great results, Volvo is now forecasting 10 percent sales growth worldwide by the end of the year, and the key to it is a booming market in some regions. China, home to parent company Geely, was up 34.4 percent first half of the year. It's now Volvo's biggest market in the world and helped by exclusive models like the S60L (pictured above) and S80L. "We are growing our presence in China and we expect to sell at least 80,000 cars there this year," said Samuelsson in the company's forecast.