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2024 Volvo XC40 and XC60 won't offer front-wheel-drive trims

There's more movement in the Volvo lineup. The year has already seen the XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge get rear-wheel-drive powertrains, more powerful motors, and better range, plus the introduction of the EX30 city crossover. Apparently, now it's time to take some options away. Car and Driver reports the gas-powered XC40 and XC60 crossovers won't be available with front-wheel drive anymore. The 2023 XC40 offers a B4 mild hybrid drivetrain with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder sending 194 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque to the front axle. That goes away, leaving the B5 AWD mild hybrid powertrain, its 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 247 hp and 258 lb-ft. The B5 upgrade adds $2,000 to the cost, meaning the 2024 XC40 will likely run at least $39,645 before potential model-year price increases are applied.     The 2023 XC60 comes in three trims. One of them utilizes a front-wheel-drive version of the above mentioned B5 mild hybrid setup, another employs the B6 AWD mild hybrid powertrain centered around a supercharged and turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 295 hp and 310 lb-ft. Both of those will be dropped in the coming model year. The sole remaining trim gets down the road with the B5 AWD powertrain. Before any possible price increases, the 2024 XC60 will run $47,045. The S60 sedan gets in on the pruning as well, shedding the limited-volume Polestar Engineered variant. Introduced for the 2019 model year as a flourish to Volvo completing its all-new lineup, the S60 Polestar Engineered's retuned T8 plug-in hybrid system paired a supercharged and turbocharged two-liter four-cylinder with a rear-mounted electric motor for a combined 415 hp and 494 lb-ft. In the five years since introduction, output has climbed to 455 hp and 523 lb-ft., and the purchase price went from a subscription-only $1,100 per month to an MSRP of $68,050. The equipment chosen to harness such potential includes adjustable Ohlins dampers, six-piston Brembo front brake calipers behind forged 19-inch wheels — those wheels an inch smaller than on the debut version, a change likely made because of the notably stiff ride. At this point, the only Polestar Engineered trims left in the Volvo lineup next year will be be found on the V60 and XC60.

Stolen first production Volvo P1800 recovered

Late last month, we told you about a 1961 Volvo P1800 that had been stolen in Sweden. The thought of losing a classic coupe to an unscrupulous thief is troubling enough, but this wasn't just any P1800 - it was the very first production example minted, and the restored red-over-white two-door was owned by the vice president of the Swedish P1800 Club to boot. Chassis Number Two was pilfered from a Stockholm lockup on either August 21 or 22, and the theft triggered an international hunt of sorts.
Fortunately, that hunt has come to a (mostly) happy ending. According to Larmtjänst AB, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting vehicle crime in Sweden, the car was spotted by someone who had read about the missing classic. The P1800 was recovered in Hägerstensvägen, a municipality of Stockholm, after being found abandoned on the road covered with a tarp. The owner is reportedly very relieved that his Volvo is mostly intact, marred only by a broken ignition and a dirty interior.

Volvo leads and Mini fails in JD Power's Tech Experience Index

New cars are basically rolling computers. Everything from the engine to the infotainment runs on a series of ones and zeros, and a lot of that technology requires input from the driver. So it's no surprise that JD Power has a study designed specifically to discern which bits of tech drivers love and which bits they loathe. "New technology continues to be a primary factor in the vehicle purchase decision," says JD Power's Kristin Kolodge, executive director of driver interaction & human machine interface research. "However, it’s critical for automakers to offer features that owners find intuitive and reliable. The user experience plays a major role in whether an owner will use the technology on a regular basis or abandon it and feel like they wasted their money." The J.D. Power 2020 U.S. Tech Experience Index (TXI) Study found that Volvo owners are happiest with the technology packed inside their vehicles, followed by BMW and Cadillac, all brands that JD Power classifies as premium. The highest-rated mainstream brand is Hyundai, followed by Subaru and Kia. As was the case with the organization's Initial Quality and APEAL studies, Tesla's numbers aren't officially included because they are the only automaker that has not granted JD Power approval to contact its owners in states that require it. Tesla's projected score of 593 would have put it in second place, right behind Volvo's score of 617. The lowest-ranked brand in the TXI Study is Mini, with Porsche right behind. Diving a little bit deeper, JD Power's findings suggest that the technologies new car buyers care most about are related to helping them see their surroundings better. Camera systems, including rear-view mirror cameras and ground-view cameras, scored highest in five of the six satisfaction attributes measured in the study. The technology that owners could really do without? Gesture controls. Owners who answered JD Power's survey say they don't use gesture controls much at all after initially trying them, and they don't really care if their next vehicle has them. We have to wonder if those responses might be what kept BMW out of the top spot. The TXI Study also found that owners are split on automated driving helpers, like lane-keeping assist and automatic emergency braking. JD Power suggests that owners may need more training on those systems before they learn to trust them. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences.