2004 Volvo Xc90 T6 Wagon 4-door 2.9l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Current Volvo XC90 to live on in China?

The current, long-serving Volvo XC90 might not be going away as soon as we thought - at least not in China. According to word from CarNewsChina, the crossover's production will be moved to Daqing, China, in December and from that point on, be built at Geely's factory. The only available engine will be a 2.5-liter turbocharged five-cylinder.
According to the report, the present XC90 and the imminent next-generation model will both be sold in the market, but the Chinese-made vehicle will be positioned as a cheaper alternative. Geely will also develop a crossover of its own from the platform that should be ready in late 2015.
Volvo plans to launch the new XC90 later this year to replace the aging model, which has been on the market for over a decade. It will ride on the company's new Scaleable Product Architecture platform and will be powered by the automaker's new Drive-E four-cylinder engine family. Hybrid versions will also be available.

Volvo uncovers widespread cheating by its Chinese dealers

According to a report in Reuters, the findings of an internal investigation conducted by Geely-owned Volvo is that its Chinese dealers vastly overreported their sales numbers in 2011, then even more vastly underreported their 2012 sales figures. About "half the dealers" out of the 151 total outlets gamed the system in order to get incentives for reaching volume objectives, falsely recording about 7,000 more units sold than was actually the case. Instead of 47,140 cars sold in China in 2011, the real number should have been 39,871.
Volvo corporate books a sale once it ships a car to a dealer, so that meant there were 7,000 more cars in inventory than there should have been. To restore the balance, the dealers underreported their 2012 sales while they unloaded those extra cars since, naturally, they couldn't claim the sale again. That made it look like sales declined by 11 percent in 2012, even though they actually increased year-on-year. The adjusted sales number for 2012 totalled 45,896.
Volvo has met with its dealers and told them to stop the deceitful practice. The discrepancies weren't so great that the company plans to restate its historic numbers, but from now on, it apparently plans to occasionally check inventory to make sure the numbers match and that it has a true picture of how individual models are selling.

Now at Costco: Bales of toilet paper and a Volvo or Pacifica to haul them

Costco, the beacon of bulk buying, where you can buy everything from gasoline to your own casket at deep discount, is offering some Costco-only incentives through its Auto Program in partnership with specific car brands: for now, Volvo and Chrysler, with other brands planned for later. First, Volvo: Now through Oct. 2, you can get both special incentives AND employee pricing (aka "A-Plan" pricing) AND whatever rebates and incentives Volvo might already have going on. The Costco incentives are: $3,000 on 2017 and 2018 S90 sedans. $750 on 2017 and 2018 S60 sedans. $750 on 2017 and 2018 V60 and V90 Cross Country wagons. $750 on 2017 and 2018 XC90 SUVs. $750 on the outgoing 2017 XC60 crossovers. Automaker incentives usually vary by region, but in the Detroit area, at least, Volvo currently has a $2,500 incentive on the 2018 XC90 and $3,500 on the 2017 model. Those end Aug. 31 but could be renewed in September, and others could be added then as well. Volvo is also offering special interest rates on financing some of the other models. And when all is said and done, if you fill out a Costco customer survey you'll get a $200 cash card. The Chrysler Pacifica deal, also through Oct. 2, is even simpler: Go to the Costco site, print out a certificate worth $1,000, and take it to a Chrysler dealership — any dealership, not just those that usually work with Costco, which is a first. The incentive covers both 2017 and 2018 models. And like the Volvo promotion, these Costco incentives can be combined with whatever Chrysler's doing — and it currently has a myriad of incentives on 2017 Pacificas, in various combinations that differ depending on whether you're leasing or buying. If you register at the Costco Auto Program website, you'll be put in touch with a dealer who can review the bottom line after all the discounts are factored in. Participating dealerships have offered special pricing to Costco members for years, up to the price automaker employees get. Costco's program doesn't typically work the way these Volvo and Chrysler programs do, though a similar joint promotion with Volvo back in 2013 sold 7,500 cars. If you haven't used the Costco Auto Program, but you don't like haggling at a dealership, you might give it a try. The beauty of it is that a dealer is obligated to offer you a set price and is also obligated to treat you by certain rules, such as not trying to upsell you. Last year, 490,000 vehicles were sold to Costco members through the program.