2004 Volvo Xc90 2.5t Wagon 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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We dialed a random Swede, talked about not driving Volvos

The Swedish Number is now a thing. It's a cool thing. You dial, a random Swede picks up, and you chat. Or, in my case, you dial and a random Brit living in Sweden for the past six year picks up and you chat. Since I was calling on behalf of Autoblog, when I got Martin from the small coastal town of Sundsvall, on the phone, we talked about cars, Volvos (natch), and cold-weather testing. Oh, and about plugging in his regular Toyota Prius. ABG: I was able to come to Sweden and test Volvos a month or so ago. Do you drive a Volvo? Martin: [laughs] No. I think Volvo is a fantastic car. It truly is an amazing car, but no. My girlfriend has a company car, so we drive a hybrid Toyota Prius. ABG: And how does that work in the cold winters? It obviously cuts down on the environmental problems. Martin: No problem at all. Because we have these cold winters, like you do get in the States as well, where we park our cars, we've got electricity posts where we can plug in the cars. Motor car engines have a heater, so you can have the heater going for some time before you get into the car. So it warms up the engine and there's a socket inside the car to warm up the inside of the car as well. It's very efficient. You just need to remember to set the timer when you climb out of the car and connect the cable. It obviously cuts down on the environmental problems as well because your car is already warm before you start them. ABG: I know that makes them overall more efficient, I just didn't know it could work with any car. It used to be you would keep the diesel engine blocks warm, but this works for pretty much any car in Sweden? Martin: Yes. Our temperatures here can vary. We do tend to get roundabout -18 to -25C [0 to -15F], where I live, sometimes. Normally, in the winter, we always plug the car in to make it more environmentally friendly, for starters, and then it's a nice warm car when you get in. The coldest I remember it getting here was -36 [-33F]. In the north of Sweden they've had, on record, -56 [-69F]. ABG: That's too cold. Martin: That is cold, yeah. Most countries, now, use the north of Sweden to test their cars because of the ice. Volvo S90 Prototype View 15 Photos ABG: That's actually why I came over there, to test out the new XC90s and S90s. Martin: Is that your job, then? ABG: I don't test the cars for the companies, but I test them for Autoblog. They'll invite us to test the vehicles so we can see for ourselves what the vehicles do in cold weather.

China's Geely says it has no plan to buy Fiat Chrysler — as FCA stock leaps

HONG KONG — Chinese carmaker Geely Automobile denied media speculation on Wednesday that it planned to make a takeover bid for Fiat Chryslerk Automobiles (FCA), the world's seventh-largest automaker. Geely was one of several Chinese carmakers cited in by Automotive News, which said representatives of "a well-known Chinese automaker" had made an offer this month for FCA, which has a market value of almost $20 billion. "We don't have such a plan at the moment," Geely executive director Gui Shengyue told reporters at an earnings briefing, when asked if Geely was interested in Fiat. He said a foreign acquisition would be complicated, but he did not elaborate. "But for other (Chinese) brands, it could be a fast track for their development," Gui added. However, a source close to the matter said FCA and Geely Automobile's parent firm, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, had held initial talks late last year, without disclosing their nature. The source confirmed Geely was no longer interested in FCA, noting that the parent company had only three months ago announced its first push into Southeast Asia with the purchase of 49.9 percent of struggling Malaysian carmaker Proton, a deal that also included a stake in Lotus. Geel's denial failed to dent FCA's stock. The price of its Milan-based shares has jumped more than 10 percent to a 19-year high since Automotive News first reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources, that FCA had rejected the Chinese offer as too low. FCA stock on the New York Stock Exchange rose sharply on Monday from $11.60 to $12.38 and on Wednesday was trading at $12.84. FCA declined to comment on Wednesday. FCA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne has repeatedly called for mergers as a way of sharing the costs of making cleaner, more advanced cars, but he has repeatedly failed to find a partner and retreated from his search for in April, saying FCA would stick to its business plan. He has also spoken of spinning the successful Jeep and Ram divisions off from FCA. Europe's largest carmaker, Volkswagen, and General Motors have both said they are not interested in talks with FCA. On Wednesday, Geely Automobile reported a doubling of first-half profit, above expectations, as cars designed with Sweden's Volvo won over domestic consumers. Volvo is a unit of the Zhejiang Geely group, and has recently announced it will share its technology with Geely.

Jaguar XF S Sportbrake vs. Volvo V90 R-Design: A sporty wagon comparison

We had both a XF Sportbrake S and a V90 T6 AWD R-Design come through the office recently, and since they're really close competitors – both fairly large wagons, both luxury vehicles, both have sporting pretenses, and both feature all-wheel-drive. And in the case of our test cars, they're equipped very similarly, but at divergent price points. Is the Jaguar worth the premium? Let's take a closer look. The Jaguar is only available in the top-level S trim, which brings many features, as well as all-wheel-drive and a 380-horsepower supercharged 3.0-liter V6. The final price listed for our Jaguar was a heady $84,815, up from a base price of $71,445. That's thanks to a bunch of options: the $360 black trim package, the $565 metallic paint, the $1,020 20-inch wheels, the $3,495 driver assistance package, $3,265 technology package, $1,805 comfort and convenience package, and $2,860 premium interior package. View 22 Photos The Volvo is available in a variety of configurations. In fact, you can have a V90 R-Design for as little as $50,945, but you'll be making do with the front-wheel-drive T5 model that has just a 250-horsepower turbocharged four-cyinder. To match the Jaguar's feature set and to nearly match its performance, you need to go with the T6 with all-wheel-drive. In addition to powering all four wheels, it also adds the 316-horsepower twin-charged four-cylinder. The engine and drivetrain add about $6,000 to the T5's price tag. The rest of our V90's price increase was made up by a lot of options, including a Convenience Package for $1,900 that came with heated washer nozzles, a surround view camera, grocery bag holder, HomeLink, a compass, and automatic parallel parking. Other options included the upholstered instrument panel and sun shade for $1,150, metallic paint for $595, heads-up display for $900, built-in child seat for $500, carbon fiber trim for $800, Bowers and Wilkens sound system for $3,200, heated steering wheel for $300, rear air suspension for $1,200, 20-inch wheels with summer tires for $300, and the destination charge. All told, it cost $68,290, which is close to the base price of the Jaguar, but a whole lot less than the Jag's as-tested price, making the Volvo a great value. Interior and Technology But value isn't the only reason to buy a car, especially a luxury car. You want it to feel luxurious.