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Weekly Recap: Volvo buys Polestar, makes performance a priority

Volvo is taking its performance business in-house, and the Swedish carmaker announced Tuesday that it bought tuning company Polestar, which has long been known for producing sporty Volvos. The move allows Volvo to ramp up its performance business, and it plans to increase Polestar-branded vehicle sales to 1,000 to 1,500 annually, up from the 750 total projected for this year. The companies have been working together on motorsports projects since 1996. Financial terms of the sale were not released, and Polestar workers will move over to Volvo. Former Polestar owner Christian Dahl will keep control of the Polestar racing team and operate it under a new name. In addition to sales volume, Volvo has ambitious plans for other parts of Polestar, including its aftermarket business. Volvo also said it will use its twin-engine hybrid technology for Polestar models in the future, though specifics and timing were not revealed. Meanwhile, Volvo announced it will offer a run of 265 total Polestars in the United States for the 2016 model year, with S60 and V60s available. "Driving a Volvo Polestar is a special experience. We have decided to bring this experience to more Volvo drivers, placing the full resources of Volvo behind the development of Polestar as the model name for our high performance cars," Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson said in a statement. OTHER NEWS & NOTES 2016 Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra, get nose jobs Automakers tend to refer to light updates as 'facelifts,' and that's exactly what Chevy gave the 2016 Silverado and GMC Sierra. Chevy slightly changed the front end of the truck. Using the one photo released of the new Z71 model as a guide, we can see that the headlights went from a stacked vertical design to single bulbs, and they are set on top of LED running lights. The grille has more body-colored elements instead of shiny metal, and the hood has a new line running down the middle (look really closely). The design theme will be similar across the portfolio, though materials and details will vary, a spokesman said. Some models, like the High Country and LTZ will have more chrome, and the LEDs are only for the upper trims. Chevy also said it will use the eight-speed automatic transmission on more versions of the Silverado, and it updated the MyLink feature to support Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Volvo working on ultra-lux four-seat XC90 for China?

In China, it's all about being driven. That's why we've seen so many automakers stretch their most popular models to appeal to buyers in the Chinese market. Volvo is certainly no stranger to this, and according to Autocar, the company is already working on a super-lux, four-seat version of its recently launched XC90 crossover.
Volvo won't stretch the XC90 and just increase second-row legroom, however. Instead, the company will reportedly remove both the standard XC90's second and third row benches, and install a duplicate set of front seats in the rear compartment, featuring the same electric adjustment features, including massage. These more luxurious thrones will be placed further back in the vehicle, allowing for "exceptional" legroom, Autocar reports, without needing to stretch the wheelbase.
Mum's the word on when we can expect to see the high-zoot Volvo arrive, though the magazine estimates that it surface later this year.

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.