Volvo V40 News

Volvo has confirmed the launch of an all-new small-size 40-series model, which will come months after the fourth quarter Australian debut of its second-generation XC60 mid-size SUV.

Volvo, Subaru, Land Rover, Citroen and GM have issued safety recalls for some vehicles due to defective manufacturing issues.

Drive-away is the go when it comes to new car deals in October.

Volvo edges closer to a twin-charged hot hatch to join S60 Polestar performance hero.

Premium brand positioning currently a hurdle for smaller models.

None of us wants to crash our shiny new car but, if we do, we want to know we're safe. That's where the Australian New Car Assessment Program's standardised crash-testing analysis is invaluable, providing comparable ratings for vehicles of all types.The ANCAP site notes that a one-star car is twice as likely to kill you as a five-star model. Carsguide examines ANCAP's results to find the best of breed in each segment. It's worth noting the advanced software in some cars that readies the vehicle if a crash is imminent are disabled during the official tests. Cars are scored out of 37 points after the following tests.FRONTAL OFFSET TEST: The subject vehicle is accelerated to 64km/h and rammed into a deformable alloy barrier to simulate a head-on crash. To increase the severity and reproduce real-world conditions only 40 per cent of the car hits the wall - equating to a driver swerving to avoid an oncoming vehicle.SIDE IMPACT TEST: The T-bone hit rams a 950kg trolley into the side of the car at 50km/h. The sled has an alloy face to simulate the front of another vehicle, which deforms and absorbs some of the impact.PEDESTRIAN TEST: Simulates the results of hitting a pedestrian at 40km/h. The test assesses adult and child impacts, given their heads and limbs strike different areas of the car.POLE TEST: This is the most demanding test in the ANCAP repertoire. Trees and poles don't deform, so all the crash energy is transferred to the vehicle. The car is put on a sled and propelled towards a fixed steel pole at 29km/h.SAFEST SMALL CARSAUDI A3 36.41 See reviews of this carOfficially the best small car to occupy in an accident. Impressively, the windscreen pillar didn't move after a 64km/h hit with the concrete block.  HONDA INSIGHT 36.39 See reviews of this carIts score reflects a 3mm movement of the pillar in the frontal offset test and "slight risk" of serious leg injury for driver and passenger.   BMW 1 SERIES HATCH 36.33 See reviews of this carThere's a slight risk of serious chest injury for the driver in the frontal and side crash test and a slight risk of serious leg injury for the passenger in the frontal crash.   SAFEST MEDIUM CARSMERCEDES B-CLASS 36.78 See reviews of this carTops the charts with the highest score of any car in ANCAP database. Technically there's a 4mm movement of the front pillar and a slight risk of injury to the passenger leg closest the door.  BMW 3 SERIES 36.76 See reviews of this carBarely behind. It showed a 1mm movement of the pillar and there was a slight risk of serious injury to the driver's and passenger's legs.VOLVO V40 36.67 See reviews of this carThe only loss of points occurred during the frontal crash test, with a slight risk of serious injury to the front occupants' legs closest the door and the driver's chest.SAFEST LARGE CARSTOYOTA AURION 36.59 See reviews of this carFirst place in this class makes it the only locally built vehicle in any top-three line-up. There's a slight risk of lower leg injury for driver and passenger.   BMW 5 Series 36.53 See reviews of this carNot a bad place to be in the event of an accident either. It blitzed the side impact tests and only lost fractions of points in the head-on hit.    VOLVO S60 36.34 See reviews of this carSweden maintains its safety credentials. The passenger compartment stayed intact with only a 1mm movement of the front pillar.    SAFEST COMPACT SUVS SUBARU XV 35.53 See reviews of this carLike the slightly lower-riding Impreza, the XV scored highly in all crashes, with a slight risk of injury to the front occupants' chests and legs.    HOLDEN TRAX 35.18 See reviews of this carThe surprise packet. One of the smaller cars in the class has only a slight risk of serious leg injury for those in the front in a head-on crash.   Skoda Yeti 34.67 See reviews of this carDepite being one of the older examples in this segment, the Yeti still rates well for safety, with only a slight risk of serious leg injury for those in the front in a head-on crash.    SAFEST MEDIUM SUVSVOLVO XC60 36.53 See reviews of this carANCAP says the cabin 'held its shape extremely well" in the frontal test, with the pillar shifting just 3mm. There was a slight risk of serious chest and leg injuries to the driver.  FORD KUGA 36.33 See reviews of this carA solid second, posing a slight risk of serious chest injury for both front seat occupants. The front pillar moved 15mm.   HONDA CR-V 35.91 See reviews of this carPlaced well despite being penalised for the foot-operated park brake moving upwards and back. Structurally there was only a 2mm movement of the pillar.  SUBARU FORESTER 35.64 See reviews of this carTested this year, it scored highly in all crashes, with a slight risk of injury to the front occupants' chests and legs.   SUBARU OUTBACK 35.52 See reviews of this carFills the brand's quinella. Crashed in 2008 and at the time topped the charts as the safest vehicle ANCAP had tested. SAFEST LARGE SUVSMERCEDES-BENZ ML 36.34 See reviews of this car Luxury SUV has a slight risk of serious chest injury for driver and passenger in the head-on hit and a slight risk of serious leg injury for the passenger. The pillar moved 2mm. RANGE ROVER 36.19 See reviews of this carBig Brit has a slight risk of serious chest injury for the driver and the pillar shifted by 15mm.   NISSAN PATHFINDER 35.73 See reviews of this carSlight risk of serious leg injury for the driver. Unlike the other two, it applies to the upper leg as well as the expected lower-leg hits. Docked points for a marginal pedestrian impact result.

The next step in pedestrian and vehicle safety is taking the weakest link out of the equation - the inattentive driver. Automatic emergency braking (AEB) and pedestrian detection systems automatically slow or stop motor vehicles in an emergency. The aim is to reduce the impact of driver error on the global pedestrian death toll, which tops 270,000 a year - 21 per cent of the overall global road toll. In Australia, pedestrian road-related deaths comprise about 13 per cent of Australia's annual road toll - approximately 180 lives. The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) is applying pressure - as it did for the inclusion of stability control on passenger cars - for the safety features to become mandatory. Chief executive officer Nicholas Clarke is campaigning for manufacturers to keep the technology in cars when selling in the Australian market. Clarke says the death toll, which costs Australia $27 billion a year in road trauma health costs - more than the annual Defence budget - could be halved by 2020 by including these life-saving features in the mainstream vehicle fleet. Real-world data suggests AEB can reduce crashes by up to 27 per cent. “The organisation is advocating this life-saving technology as mandatory for all new vehicles sold in our region,” Clarke says. “The more it's picked up by consumers, the more it’s made available from manufacturers, the cheaper it becomes,” he said. The issue was raised during a demonstration by the University of Adelaide's Centre for Automotive Safety Research of its pedestrian head impact test on a car bonnet. The centre also demonstrated one of the growing number of pedestrian safety systems on the market - Subaru's EyeSight, which identifies and brakes automatically if there is a risk of collision. CASR's deputy director Robert Anderson said the accidents involving pedestrians were not specific to one demographic. “Pedestrian crashes tend to be more average, any driver can be involved as it is more random, sometimes it involves a speeding driver. “If you drive faster you are placing pedestrians at greater risk but it is a more democratic crash than other ones, if you like,” he said. Subaru Australia spokesman David Rowley said automatic braking technology like the Subaru EyeSight system, which is standard in many high-end Subaru models and a $1500 option on selected other vehicles, would become more common over time. “(Subaru Australia managing director) Nick Senior is quoted as saying he can see no reason why this system won't filter down into other vehicles in our range over time, it comes standard in the upper levels of the Liberty, Forester and Outback ranges now.” “ABS is a good example, it took quite some time for it to become mainstream, airbags as well, but the timeframe is shrinking,” he said. • 1.3 million people killed in road trauma every year. • 270,000 of them are pedestrians. • Cost to Australia of road trauma - $27 billion. • Subaru EyeSight system - $1500 option. • Volvo V40 with world-first pedestrian airbag - from $34,990. • Cheapest Subaru with EyeSight - Forester 2.5iS from $43,990.  

Volvo is in a race to renew its aging lineup and will soon launch the first of its next-generation models, a redesigned XC90 SUV that’s due at the end of 2014.This redesigned XC90 will be the first to be based on a modular platform developed by Volvo: the Scalable Platform Architecture (SPA). The platform will eventually spawn replacements for all of Volvo’s lineup from the S60 sedan up.At the same time, Volvo is working with its parent company Geely to develop a new small car platform that will be used for everything smaller than the S60. According to a report from CAR, these two platforms will also see some brand new additions join Volvo’s lineup over the coming years.At the entry-level, Volvo’s small car platform is said to spawn a compact hatchback targeting the likes of the Volkswagen Golf and labelled a ‘C40’. It will be smaller than the current V40, which is positioned as a premium five-door wagon. The V40 is based on an aging platform developed during Volvo’s Ford days which is due to finally be retired at the end of the V40’s life.The C40 Golf rival should arrive around 2016 and should also have its own ‘XC40’ crossover variant. The XC40 is said to be a proper crossover and not just a jacked-up wagon like the V40 Cross Country. This model will target the likes of the Buick Encore and a new compact crossover coming from Lexus.Moving up the ladder, we arrive at the smallest SPA-based model, the next-generation S60 sedan, which is tipped to arrive in 2017. It will once again spawn an XC60 crossover, which is likely to arrive a year later. It’s not clear if there will be another generation of the V60 wagon, though a new ‘C60’ coupe targeting the BMW 4-Series is said to be planned for 2016.Above this will sit an ‘S90’ premium sedan. This will be the successor to the current S80 and will target vehicles such as BMW’s 5-Series. It will reportedly have a wagon variant, a new ‘V90,’ which will replace the current V70 and compete against vehicles such as the Audi A6 Avant.Importantly, Volvo’s entire lineup will feature engines with no more than four-cylinders. For additional performance, the automaker is turning to turbocharging and hybrid technology. Volvo fans certainly have a lot to look forward to, and the party looks set to start before next year is out.www.motorauthority.com 

No automaker in the world has done as good a job of both innovating and marketing safety features as Volvo. The brand originally known for building safe and reliable cars has branched out to target roadside animals and pedestrians in its safety net, and now that list includes bicyclists, too. An offshoot of Volvo’s Pedestrian Detection system, first launched in 2010, the new Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection system includes full auto brake capabilities. Advancements in software, including faster vision processing, now allow the system to cover what Volvo is describing as “certain” cyclist situations. Since Volvo’s detection system is forward-looking, it can react to cyclists moving in the same direction as the car, assuming the differential in speed is not substantial. When it senses that a collision is imminent, the system delivers a warning to the driver and automatically brakes to avoid or minimize an accident. In Europe, roughly 50-percent of cyclist fatalities are caused by impacts with motor vehicles. Volvo’s system, which relies on data from both a radar unit and a camera, allows for accurate object recognition at the farthest possible distances, potentially enabling a significant reduction in collisions between automobile and bicyclists. Ultimately, Volvo’s goal is to make cars crash-proof, which is a mission shared by virtually every automaker working on autonomous technology. Though it may be farther off than Volvo’s target date of 2020, every advancement in safety gets the automaker one step closer to its target. Look for Volvo to roll out the Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection system on its V40, S60, V60, XC60, V70, XC70 and S80 models, beginning in the second quarter of 2013. www.motorauthority.com  

The classy new Volkswagen Golf has taken another big step towards a Carsguide Car of the Year crown in 2013.It has just claimed the European COTY title for 2013, scoring double the points of the runner-up Toyota 86-Subaru BRZ twins that claimed last year's Carsguide title. The Volvo V40 is third.The seventh-generation Golf is the most impressive car I drove in 2012, but it does not hit local showrooms for more than a month and that means it is the early favourite for this year's Australian awards season.The European award has been running since the 1960s and is decided by a panel of motoring journalists drawn from across the continent.Every Golf has finished on the podium since the original was runner-up in the European COTY contest in 1975, but you have to go back to 1992 - and the third-generation car - to find the last Golf that claimed the award.The Golf beat out seven other finalists for the 2013 award: Ford B-Max, Hyundai i30, Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Peugeot 208, Renault Clio, the Japanese sports car twins and the Volvo.This reporter is on Twitter @paulwardgover