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Volvo announces a move away from wagons and sedans as SUV fever spikes

Volvo will move away from station wagons and sedans as it pivots towards an electric-only lineup. While it won't abandon either body style, it hinted it will pare down its presence in both segments as it launches more crossovers. "We need less variants of sedans and wagons. We have a lot of wagons today, with the V60, the V90, the Cross Country, and the non-Cross Country, plus a lot of sedans big and small, long, and extra-long. We need to move from wagons and sedans. We will still have them in the future, but probably not as many," warned company boss Hakan Samuelsson in an interview with British magazine Autocar. He pointed out Volvo's sales mix is about 75% SUVs. Volvo's portfolio in 2021 includes two wagons, the V60 and the V90. Each one is available as a regular low-riding model, or as a Cross Country-branded high rider with all-wheel-drive and rugged styling cues. Selling wagons in 2021 is difficult, even for a brand like Volvo that's been closely associated with the body style for decades. American motorists fell out of love with the long-roof years ago, and Chinese drivers never liked them to begin with. Europeans still buy lifted wagons, but low-riding models are a tough sell, even in Volvo's home country of Sweden. Reading between the lines suggests non-Cross Country-badged models will be axed from the range in the coming years. As for sedans, Volvo has two: the S60 and the S90. It's not too far-fetched to speculate that at least one won't be replaced at the end of its life cycle. While nothing is official yet, and this is just a guess, our money is on the S90. High-riding vehicles are what the market wants in the 2020s, and Volvo (like everyone else) is following demand. It added a fourth model to its palette of crossovers and SUVs when it introduced the 2022 C40 Recharge, an electric soft-roader with XC40 underpinnings and a fastback-like roof line. Unverified rumors claim a flagship model tentatively called XC100 is on its way, and Samuelsson confirmed an entry-level crossover called either XC20 or C20 is currently under development. The model's architecture will come from China-based parent company Geely. Samuelsson explained the shift to an all-electric range will have a profound effect on Volvo's design language. First, a lot of its upcoming cars will be taller, because it's easier to pack a bulky battery pack into a crossover than into a sedan. Second, the firm's future design language will be more streamlined.

When Android Automotive goes in the dash, Google wins — and automakers lose data

You've gotta hand it to Google for the way the Silicon Valley tech giant has made indelible inroads into the car on multiple fronts. The most obvious is with its pioneering self-driving car technology that's caused car companies to get their act together on autonomous vehicles — and also collaborate with Google. Google has more directly extended its influence and data-mining capabilities into the car with its Android Auto smartphone-projection platform that most major automakers have adopted along with Apple's CarPlay. And now it's preparing to dig even deeper into dashboards by deploying its open-source operating system, Android Automotive, beginning with Audi and Volvo. Volvo recently announced that its next-generation Sensus infotainment system will run Android Automotive as an OS and include Google's Play Store for cloud-based content, Maps for navigation and Google Assistant for voice recognition, which can even command a car's climate control. By embedding Google in the dash, Volvo says owners will get an improved connected experience. "Bringing Google services into Volvo cars will accelerate innovation in connectivity and boost our development in applications and connected services," Volvo senior vice president of R&D Henrik Green said in a statement. "Soon, Volvo drivers will have direct access to thousands of in-car apps that make daily life easier and the connected in-car experience more enjoyable." Having Android Automotive onboard could benefit drivers — and provide a big win for Google, since it opens a deep and lucrative new data-mining vein for the company. But it's a wave of a white flag for car companies when it comes to delivering their own cloud-based content and services. It also represents a massive data giveaway and, for Audi, a reversal of earlier reservations about letting Google get too much access to car data. Not long after Android Auto and Apple CarPlay were introduced in 2014 and most automakers eagerly embraced the technologies, several German automakers second-guessed their decision when they realized what was at stake: data. At a conference in Berlin in 2015, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said car owners "want to be in control of their data, and not subject to monitoring." A few months earlier, Stadler stated that "the data that we collect is our data and not Google's.

Next Volvo XC90 design teased

When Volvo took the wraps off its Concept Coupe yesterday, the Swedish automaker said that while "the all-new XC90 is an entirely different type of car, you will recognize the connection instantly when it is revealed next year." We raised our eyebrows at this upon first read, but after seeing these photos, posted on Feber.se, Volvo certainly wasn't joking.
During a press conference where the Concept Coupe debuted, teaser images of the next XC90 were shown, and the connection between it and the conceptual two-door are obvious. The long, T-shaped lighting elements in the slim headlamps are certainly the most noticeable tie between the two vehicles, but the angular lower fascia openings seen here can also be found quite prominently on the Concept Coupe.
Feber.se also has a few images showing the new taillamp and interior designs of the XC90, as well. And not surprisingly, those two facets of the new crossover's DNA are also surprisingly close to the elements found on the Concept Coupe. It's interesting to see how the concept's C-shaped taillamps have been massaged for the more upright design of the XC90's rump, and inside the cabin, it appears Volvo is serious about this vertically oriented infotainment display.