Volvo bringing ethanol-powered C30 racer to WTCC

Click to view a hi-res gallery of the Volvo C30 Green Racer Let's play a little word association game here. When I say "Volvo", what comes to mind? Swedish. Safety. Soccer moms. Station wagons. But racing? Granted, Volvo is not one of the better-known names in motorsport, but the company has been competing for the last couple of seasons in the Swedish Touring Car Championship. Volvo Motorsport actually took the first two championships of the series in 1996 and 1997, and came back to the series last year with an E85 ethanol-powered C30, campaigned by Polestar Racing AB. Although the green racing hatch has yet to reclaim the national title for Volvo, it has won a couple of races against conventionally-fueled competitors from the likes of Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Opel. The Swedish automaker has now decided to bring the vehicle up a level to the World Touring Car Championship when the series comes to Brands Hatch in the UK next weekend. It will be interesting to see how the E85 Volvo will fare against the diesel-powered Seats and the other gasoline-powered regulars in the WTCC, however Volvo's entry will be strictly for exhibition and not eligible for points. Press release after the jump and images in the gallery below.

[ Via: Autoblog (Volvo) ]
[ Tag: volvo c30, volvo c30 green racer, volvo c30 wtcc, volvo green racer, volvo stcc, volvo touring car championship, volvo wtcc, VolvoC30, VolvoC30GreenRacer, VolvoC30Wtcc, VolvoGreenRacer, VolvoStcc, VolvoTouringCarChampionship, VolvoWtcc, wtcc brands hatch, wtcc e85, wtcc ethanol, wtcc green, wtcc volvo, WtccBrandsHatch, WtccE85, WtccEthanol, WtccGreen, WtccVolvo ]

Rumormill: 350 hp Volvo C30 R in the works

Volvo gave its C30 hatchback a pretty aggressive look when it introduced the R-Design package, but unfortunately none of that sportiness made its way beneath the hood. Adding some show to the go, Volvo has reportedly created a C30 prototype fitted with a turbocharged inline-5 pumping out 350 horsepower using the Ford Focus RS engine block as a base. Best of all, it would be able fully put down all that power combined with Volvo's AWD system, unlike the FWD system on the Focus RS. Unfortunately, Volvo has no current plans to bring the car to production, and with high gas prices and upcoming fuel consumption regulations, it would be tough to convince them otherwise.

[ Via: MotorAuthority.com ]
[ Tag: Volvo, volvo c30, volvo c30 hatchback, volvo c30 r-design, VolvoC30, VolvoC30Hatchback, VolvoC30R-design ]

Volvo denies reported dealer cuts

A couple days back we received word from Automotive News that Volvo was looking to downsize its dealer body by 30 percent in an effort to cut costs. The Swedish automaker says that isn't going to happen. PR VP Geno Effler said that while Volvo doesn't plan to cut almost a third of its 350 US dealers, it will try to persuade its struggling dealers to call it quits. The problem with Volvo's denial is that we'd heard about Volvo closing a significant amount of dealers way back in December, before the car market took it's most recent nose dive.
With Volvo sales down 14 percent for the year and constant talk about a Ford/Volvo split, we wouldn't be surprised if there are more than a handful of dealers in need of coercion. Not that the prodigious dip in sales volume has everything to do with dealers, either. Volvo's lineup isn't exactly fresh or fuel efficient, which spells disaster in this vehicle market.

[ Via: Automotive News ]
[ Tag: dealer closings, DealerClosings, ford, Volvo ]

Volvo to trim 30-percent of U.S. dealers by the end of next year

Volvo hasn't been doing too hot lately, posting a $1.73 billion loss over the past five years as it flails to find its niche. Sales of almost every Volvo product have declined in 2007, with the S60 falling by 28.1 percent, the XC90 dropping 5.6 percent and the V70 station wagon losing 7.7 percent. For June of 2008, Volvo only moved 7,001 vehicles, down 14.2 percent compared to last year. Something has to be done on the retail side, and according to Automotive News, dealers are on their way out.
The automaker is looking to cut out approximately 30 percent of its U.S. dealer network by the close of next year, however, Volvo retailers won't be cut in Europe, nor Russia, where Volvo is a leader in premium vehicle sales.
Volvo recognizes that part of its problem is fuel efficiency, so it's focusing on producing smaller vehicles and pushing its C30 hatch hard in the States. A hybrid version of the XC60 is in the works, but that won't be out for at least another three years... in Germany, and as a stopgap, Volvo plans to implement start-stop technology on its smaller engines.

[ Via: Automotive News ]
[ Tag: cut, dealer, dealers, network, u.s., united states, UnitedStates, volvo ]

Volvo Trucks roll down the catwalk (down the catwalk, yeah)

Click for hi-res gallery of Volvo Trucks clothingTrucker chic isn't exactly the same in Europe as it is in America, where every tool with a practical-joke or retro-themed television show is punkin' out the mesh-backed trucker hats. Case in point: the new apparel collection launched by Volvo Trucks. Although the fashion-forward collection might seem more aligned with Volvo's latest passenger cars than commercial vehicles, remember that, since 1999, the two divisions are separately owned (one independent, the other by Ford... for now) and both share the same name and logo. Commendably, Volvo Trucks didn't just slap its name on some t-shirts and backpacks and called it a day. The recently launched collection consists of more than 100 items, on which the company's designers collaborated with IKEA fashion designers for over a year. The line includes leather jackets sporting shoulder sections modeled on the company's trademark grille and watches shaped like the cabin's instruments. Clever, eh? We don't know who is driving the big-rigs on that side of the pond, but the Volvo Trucks collection has things for the whole family, including men, women and even children – like baby tees with UV protection to safeguard their fair Swedish skin. The items are available via the company's online shop at www.volvotrucks.com/merchandise. In the meantime, you can check out the press release after the jump and the images in the gallery below.

[ Via: Autoblog (Volvo) ]
[ Tag: volvo, volvo design, volvo trucks, volvo trucks clothing, volvo trucks collection, VolvoDesign, VolvoTrucks, VolvoTrucksClothing, VolvoTrucksCollection ]

Volvo's suitor of the week: China's Chery

Following up on our report last month about Volvo possibly going to the Chinese, state media is now reporting that Chery Automobile, one of the largest independent and fastest growing Chinese auto manufacturers, has its eyes on the Swedish automaker. Although officials at Chery rule out the possibility of buying Volvo, other sources have stated that the Chinese automaker has already negotiated funding for a possible acquisition. If so, that funding will be significant-insiders put Volvo's value at 30 billion yuan (about $4.4 billion dollars). This isn't the first time that Ford has been rumored to be cashing-out on Volvo... however, it was just two months ago that Ford officials reiterated that Volvo was not for sale. We wouldn't bet our yuan on it.

[ Via: Automotive News ]
[ Tag: Chery, Chery Automotive Group, CheryAutomotiveGroup, China, Chinese, Ford selling Volvo, FordSellingVolvo, Sale, Suitor, Volvo ]