New England is Volvo Country. It's also home territory for the loved and loathed Red Sox. There's plenty of cars plastered with "B" stickers, license plates and trinkum. Long a sponsor of Red Sox baseball, Volvo's rolled out a special edition of its stubby C30. The Kammback hatch comes with a factory-fitted Team logo stuck to the glass of the rear hatch, fender badges and a distinctive shade of red. This regionally pimped Volvo is a limited edition, with only 107 examples being produced.
If baseball (or just the Red Sox) isn't your thing, Volvo's got an Ocean Race Edition that spans the V70, XC70 and XC90 models. Ocean Race cars have been available a couple of times before, sporting Ocean Blue paint and nautical detailing, and the new Ocean Race themed cars continue to tie in with the actual sailing event. New this time around is the availability of Ocean Race models in Electric Silver as well as Ocean Blue. Interior details are more evocative of sailing, and new wheels draw inspiration from the undulation of the ocean. Volvo expects to shift 9,000 of these maritime units, which should make it easy enough to find a limited production Volvo, even if you miss out on the baseball themed C30. Ocean Race press release after the jump
Volvo's limited presence in Detroit will be punctuated by the expansion of its in-house customization line with the release of the XC90 Sport R-Design. Volvo connoisseurs can R-ified their 'ute with either 19- or 20-inch matte wheels, dual exhaust pipes, brushed sill moldings and the removal of the CUV's roof rails. Inside, a blue-lit instrument cluster joins some additional badging, a leather wrapped steering wheel and an aluminum center stack to boost the premium feel of the XC90. They're all nice touches, but we still maintain that anything sporting the letter "R" should involve upgrades to both the visual appearance of the vehicle and its performance.
Volvo's press release is available after the jump.
Yesterday, the word from Auto Motor and Sport Sweden was that the next Volvo XC90 was stillborn due to a lack of hybrid drive trains and other fuel-saving technologies. Not so, according to Volvo, who responded to the pub's article by saying that a facelifted XC90 is in the works and that the XC90 replacement has not been cancelled.
How Volvo plans to get around new fuel economy regs and what Ford platform will be used to underpin the automaker's burly next-gen 'ute is still up in the air, but a clean-sheet rethink might be in order to address many of these environmental issues that will be plaguing Volvo in the upcoming years.
[Source: Auto Motor and Sport Sweden via World Car Fans]
If you're on the list of OEM component suppliers for the planned replacement of the Volvo XC90 sport-ute, don't read this article, because you haven't been informed yet. For everyone else, however, reports are emerging that Ford PAG has pulled the plug on the Swedish subsidiary's flagship SUV.
The reports come from the Swedish edition of Auto Motor & Sport , which cites the lack of environmentally-friendly powertrain alternatives as the main factor that influenced Ford to trash plans for the second-generation XC90, despite an anticipated launch in two years' time. Volvo has no hybrid powertain to put in the large SUV, slated to share a Ford platform, and no start/stop engine function. Rather than developing such systems, and with an eye on dropping sales of the rival BMW X5, PAG has reportedly opted to cancel the program altogether.
While the XC60, XC50 and possibly upcoming XC30 are expected to continue on without their bigger brother, the current XC90 model will receive a facelift in 2009 and stay on the market until 2012.
Automotive News is dishing on Volvo's product lineup plans between now and 2010. The newly released second-generation S80 won't see any major changes, nor will the new 70-series wagons, the C70, or the C30. The S40's going to bid us adieu, as there's price overlap with the S60, and the S60's not much larger than the S40. The C30's going to serve as the entry-level Volvo, while also angling at MINI's territory of cutieified premium small cars. The S60, while handsomely drawn, is becoming long in the tooth. A redesigned S60 will bow in 2010, and it will be smaller than the current model in an effort to differentiate it from the S80, as well as still serve those customers who would have gone for the S40.
While Gothenburg's losing a sedan offering, it'll be adding a CUV in early 2009 when the XC60 hits the streets. With the CUV market currently on fire, a smaller Volvo 'ute to go after X3 shoppers is a shrewd move. The basic hardware's already been piled together as the Land Rover LR2, which we suspect offers a decent preview of the XC60 experience. Basically, what we see happening is the phasing out of the P2 platform that Volvo developed in the '90s for the original S80, and a migration of all vehicles to some flavor of the EUCD platform.
Back in the day, we imagine that a failed quest to find lost treasure would result in scrubbing the deck or walking the plank, but in the 21st century, you merely get a do-over. Those clever Swedes were too much for the 21 finalists for Volvo's hunt for the lost $50,000 and the key to a new XC90, as the treasure was left undiscovered after the 24-hour deadline. The contest, which lasted a month and included 32,000 online entrants, was narrowed to a final list of 21 "pirates" from all over the world. As a result of the lack of sleuth-power, Volvo's giving the finalists another run at the buried treasure, and this time the first person to solve the next puzzle gets the prize.
We knew this contest was going to be tough, but even Volvo was surprised that nobody came out on top the first time around. Maybe in the next round they'll put all 21 contestants in the back of an Ikea store to see who figures out how to leave without buying anything. Check out Volvo's press release after the jump.
Just like it did last year, Volvo appears to be launching another treasure hunt wherein one lucky buccaneer will escape with the ultimate automotive treasure - a new car! The online clue board is located here, and with a new installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise set to debut May 25th, the Disney website is a part of the hunt, as well. At World's End isn't just the name of the new Pirates movie, it just might also be the location of this year's dig as well.
This bit from the current contest entry leads us to wonder what will be at the end of your shovel when you finally strike gold: "The treasure this year will shock even the toughest swashbucklers out there." Could it be one of the SEMA C30s? All of them? We can only hope and pray, though last year's XC90 was hardly a bad prize in its own right. As we said in our post on last year's contest (one of the most commented on Autoblog posts of all time with 1,271 comments), tying into a hit movie franchise, giving away a vehicle or two and doing it in such a fun and different way is a refreshing change for Volvo. Now, all for one and... that's it, go get your car.
Heico Sportiv has unveiled their latest Volvo upgrades just prior to the Essen Motorshow with nary a chrome rim in sight. Heico covers the entire Volvo range, from C30 to a butching-up of the XC90 ute and finishing at the top of the range with a beautifully executed toning of the C70s lines. They've deftly modified the C30, creating the Heico HS3 D5 with a juiced diesel powertrain and upgrades to the chassis, interior and styling. The THOR_2 is a two wheel drive version of the Heico HS3 THOR that attended SEMA. When not attending auto shows, they've been out winning races in their HS4 ODIN, based on the S40 sedan, so they've got the underhood chops to back up the great job they did making these already stylish cars stand out.
Ah, the trials of being a tuner, especially one that creates its own line of body enhancements. When Volvo gave the XC90 a face-lift for 2007, Heico Sportiv had to respond to the updated Swedish SUV with a new kit in which to wrap it. The biggest improvement is the use of a material called PU-RIM plastic. This material is touted as 'brakeproof', which should be translated breakproof to us. Regardless, the front and rear enhancements are three-piece designs and give the XC90 a more butch appearance. The front skirt includes cut outs for fog lights, which can be upgraded to cornering lamps. There is even an optional dual exit exhaust that can be added to complement the rear apron.
Heico can also outfit your XC90 (or any other late model Volvo) with performance parts to go with that body kit, including ECU upgrades, suspension packages, and brakes kits. If you want, you can also get the aluminum door pins or other interior goodies so that your investment in Heico parts doesn't go unappreciated inside the cabin.
Volvo's new rival for the BMW X3 is apparently getting close to production. The new Volvo XC50 should reach dealers around the same time as another new Euro rival, the Audi Q5. Looks like there are going to be a lot of good competitors in the premium mini-ute segment. The XC50 will most likely be built on the C1 chassis underpinning the Euro Focus, Mazda3, Volvo S40 and V50. Engines should be similar to the V50's, minus the smaller ones. We're probably going to see gas engines ranging from 145 to 220hp, and perhaps the new diesel D5 unit putting out 180hp.
The Volvo XC50 will look like a mini-me version of the larger XC90. Not a copy, but similar. Infomotori sources are saying that the platform is the same as the V50, with a strong family resemblance to the new Volvo C30. It is also expected to share much with the next-generation Land Rover Freelander/LR3, including its trick AWD system.
Although only labeled a concept at this point, the car should be unveiled at the NAIAS in Detroit in January and go on sale as early as Spring 2008. Expected to be approximately the same size as the Toyota RAV4, it will compete a bit further upscale with the likes of the Lexus RX, BMW X3 and new Acura RDX.
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