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Russian auto boomtown grinds to halt over Ukraine sanctions

Thousands of auto workers have been furloughed and food prices are soaring as Western sanctions pummel the small Russian city of Kaluga and its flagship foreign carmakers, with more sanctions likely to come. The Kaluga region, 190 kilometers (120 miles) southwest of Moscow, says it has attracted more than 1.3 trillion roubles ($15 billion) in investment, mostly foreign, since 2006. But Western sanctions imposed in recent weeks after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine have exacerbated lingering component shortages and halted production at two flagship car plants, Germany's Volkswagen and Sweden's Volvo. A third, the PSMA Rus plant that is a joint venture between Stellantis and Mitsubishi and employs 2,000, may halt production soon due to a lack of parts, Stellantis' chief executive said last Thursday. "It is not clear what will happen. They don't give us any concrete information," said Pavel Terpugov, a welder at the PSMA Rus plant. Terpugov said he needs twice as much money to buy groceries than before the sanctions. Analysts have forecast Russian inflation could soar to 24% this year, while the economy may shrink to 2009 levels. The United States and Europe are weighing more sanctions against Russia after Ukraine accused Russian forces of civilian killings in northern Ukraine, where a mass grave was found in Bucha, outside Kyiv. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" and the Kremlin categorically denied any accusations related to the murder of civilians, including in Bucha. One source of hope for some in Kaluga, with its 325,000 residents, is the West may be reluctant to hurt its own companies. "Does it make sense to impose sanctions on its own plant and lose money?" said Valery Uglov, an auto mechanic at the Volkswagen plant. "Does it make sense to lose the Russian market?" "We hope to return to work as soon as possible and everyone will have confidence in the future again," Uglov said. Volkswagen, whose factory employs 4,200 people, in early March suspended operations. A spokeswoman said production remained frozen. Volvo Group, which employs over 600 people to build trucks, also suspended production. Even before the sanctions, Russian car sales had contracted from 2.8 million units from when the Volkswagen factory opened in 2007 to 1.67 million units last year, damaged by both sanctions after the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Volvo debuts new Drive-E four-cylinder engines

Volvo is introducing a new engine family based on its new Drive-E philosophy, which encompasses "all innovations made to reduce the impact on the environment," the automaker says. Less cylinders allows for less environmental impact, so the new engines are all four-pots. They also were designed to pair easily with Volvo's upcoming hybrid drive system, which "will reach power figures in the V8 territory" and play a "dominant part of the top end of [Volvo's] range," says Derek Crabb, Vice President Powertrain Engineering. Volvo also says we can expect "power curves that give exciting drivability compared with engines with more cylinders."
Volvo says some versions of the engine were designed targeting best-in-class fuel economy. There are both gasoline and diesel options, but the latter of which isn't scheduled for US consumption. Instead, the US will be offered two states of tune of the gasoline Drive-E engine for front-wheel-drive vehicles. Some of Volvo's current all-wheel-drive powertrains will remain available in the US until the company has transitioned solely to the new, fuel-efficient inline-fours.

Volvo racks up the most IIHS Top Safety Pick+ awards of any 2022 carmaker

It should not come as any surprise, but Volvo has won the most IIHS Top Safety Pick+ awards of any automaker in 2022. Top Safety Pick+ is the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety's top prize. Volvo has accumulated 13 of the awards, spanning its entire lineup. IIHS and Volvo separates models between gasoline and electrified versions of the same car, even though the tests may have been conducted only on one variant. For example, the XC60 Recharge earns an TSP+ even though tests were conducted using gasoline-powered XC60 T5 and T6 models. Similarly, a C40 Recharge gets the award even though the actual test was conducted on a similar XC40 Recharge. Also, as with Mazda's lineup TSP+ rankings from earlier this year, some are carried over to 2022 model year cars from tests on previous model year cars. This is only when the model has not changed significantly. For example, the XC60's 2022 ranking was based on a 2018 model year's crash test. The IIHS conducts six tests on each car — a moderate overlap front crash, two small overlap front crashes for both driver and passenger, a side impact crash, a roof strength crush evaluation, and a head restraint test using just the car seat. The results are ranked out of four levels, with a green "Good" marker indicating the top tier. Beyond the crashes, Volvo earned top marks for standard safety features such as forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, and pedestrian and cyclist detection. It should be noted that most Volvo models earned an "Acceptable" rating for ease of use of the LATCH safety seats. This is the second best rating, but does not affect crash worthiness, and won't matter if you don't use child seats. XC40 models received a "Poor" rating for its safety belt reminders, which IIHS deemed not loud or long enough. Some models like the S90 and XC60 received "Acceptable" ratings on headlights, with IIHS wishing the beams were brighter on turns. Despite these minor quibbles, the overall ratings are still very impressive. It should be noted that even the V60 and V90 wagons, which are (achingly beautiful but tragically) discontinued in America, also got TSP+ ratings though were not included in the 13-model 2022 count. Related Video This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Volvo XC90 Earns IIHS Top Safety Pick+ Crash Test Rating