Volvo XC90 2014 News

Ford has recalled 8878 examples of its Kuga mid-size SUV over a potential fire risk.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has issued its latest round of recalls, with models from Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia and Volvo impacted by the recent safety notices.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has this week issued safety recalls for various vehicles from Land Rover, Nissan and Volvo.

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

NSW Highway Patrol insider suggests European and US alternatives are on the cards after the end of Falcon and Commodore as we know them.

Last year the vehicle market notched up a record with 1,136,227 sales, busting the previous zenith by about 24,000 and confirming that in Australia, one million-plus is the norm.Figures for November, released last week, show sales have already passed the million mark, and when the final tally emerges in early January the industry will congratulate itself on another bumper year.In reality, it has spent most of 2014 in reverse and it would take a freak December to even approach last year's total.If the trend holds, then the overall decline will be about 2 per cent - equivalent to 500 fewer buyers a week. But it's a mixed picture for the 50 or so brands, with the gap between winners and losers larger than ever.With one or two exceptions, the winners by a substantial margin are luxury brands. Their share of the market now approaches 9 per cent, up from 7.7 per cent last year, and it's reflected in some impressive numbers.The German luxury trio dominates but Australia bucks the trend by favouring Mercedes-Benz ahead of BMW and Audi.With its small car range - the A, B, CLA and GLA - flying out of showrooms, the three-pointed star is stretching its lead over BMW and rubs it in by selling more of its expensive performance variants as well.Its bestseller, the C-Class, has been available for only a few months but will finish the year as the third most popular mid-size car at any price - behind only the Toyota Camry and Mazda6.Audi's ambition is to overtake its German peers and become No 1 here, replicating its position in Europe and China. After slowing in 2012, its growth spurt has resumed and it's catching BMW on the strength of its award-winning A3 small car.Some of the second-tier luxury brands are powering ahead even faster. Thanks to its new-generation Range Rover and Range Rover Sport, demand for the British SUV specialist is up 22 per cent. It will finish as the fourth most popular luxury marque.Ironically, SUV demand is also powering Porsche. It cannot get enough of its second SUV, the Macan, and waiting times are stretching the patience of buyers. Without the Macan, Porsche was on track for a record. With it, sales are up almost 50 per cent. When Maserati adds an SUV, the Levante, in 2016 it can expect to get a comparable boost.Super-large, super-expensive SUVs are what the elite badges lack but they are all working on one. Even so, Maserati's push for volume is yielding results. The new-generation large sedans Ghibli and Quattroporte have almost tripled sales this year.Even among the luxury brands there are losers. Volvo lacks the deep pockets of the Germans and is struggling to keep its product pipeline full. Its dealers will doubtless breathe easier when the overdue replacement for its XC90 SUV arrives in the second quarter next year, with sales down 7 per cent in 2014.Lexus is another that has waited too long for fresh product and its NX mid-size SUV arrives too late to prevent it treading water.Among mainstream brands, losers are much easier to find than winners. Over-optimism and the pressure to grow meant many ended 2013 carrying too much stock, with Nissan the standout - but far from sole - example.The traditional solution to this problem, and one by no means limited to mainstream brands, is for the distributor and/or dealers to register cars themselves.It's a way of meeting sales targets but it simply saves up trouble, not the least of which is an excess of ageing 'demonstrator' models that sooner or later have to actually be sold. When they are, the sales have already been counted.Combine that with an assault on their traditional territory by the luxury brands and everyone from Toyota to Honda, Holden to Ford, has seen their numbers go south.But the biggest losers in 2014? Cheap Chinese brands, with Chery sales down 35 per cent and Great Wall almost 60 per cent.

The Volvo Concept XC Coupe shows the fresh new styling that will revitalise the aging XC90 SUV and future crossovers on the way for the Swedish brand. The Concept XC -- like the Concept Coupe at Frankfurt -- is underpinned by Volvo's new scalable platform, which is also likely to spawn a smaller sibling further down the track.The Detroit show car echoes the Frankfurt one with sleek styling and a three-door fastback body. The cabin gets only four seats for the motor show version, but that number will grow by the time it hits the production line, expected to happen sometime after the real world vehicle gets a debut later this year at Paris motor show.The team led by chief designer Thomas Ingenlath says the concept was inspired by high-tech sports equipment and aimed to appeal to the active lifestyle but also for those still looking for Volvo's signature safety. The sporting accents show in cues like the orange accents on the  21-inch wheels and the matching front and rear skid plates -- neither of which are destined to survive the journey to production.However you can expect to see influences of the Concept's streamlined design appear in the XC90 and other Volvo SUVs, along with the raised ride height, vertical floating grille and muscular sills, although the T-shaped LED section dividing the headlight clusters, and the stylised extremes of Volvo's hook-curved tail-lights will likely be toned down.Expect the XC90 in production form to have a full arsenal of the latest Volvo safety tech, including pedestrian-detecting automatic braking and collision-avoiding 'convoy' system that lets you autonomously follow the car in front.The earlier Concept Coupe carried a hybrid drivetrain with a turbocharged and supercharged 1.4-litre engine working with an electric motor to produce a combined 300kW of power and 600Nm of torque. However while a hybrid is a possibility for the production XC90, the range will continue to offer more conventional engines such as the current  choices of a 179kW/320Nm 3.2-litre petrol unit -- although possibly downsized -- and a 147kW/420Nm 2.4-litre diesel.And the XC90 is just the first SUV planned to come off the platform, with the smaller XC60 also due for replacement in the next two years and Volvo indicating they'd like to add a little XC40 to enter the growing baby crossover field.

The Volvo Concept XC Coupe is headed for a global unveiling at the Detroit motor show next week, but early photos and details give a good idea of what to expect from it -- and from the next XC90 and other Volvo crossovers.The Concept XC Coupe -- like the Concept Coupe at Frankfurt -- is built on Volvo's new scalable platform, which in this latest form underpins a sleek, low-slung body with three doors, but only four seats. However you can expect that number to grow by the time the XC90 hits the showroom after a debut at Paris show in September.Volvo chief designer Thomas Ingenlath has created a streamlined design echoing that of the Concept Coupe, but bumped up the ride height and given it touch-looking crossover touches -- some of which won't appear outside the show stand.However the production model could retain some of the concept styling also seen in the earlier teaser sketches and images, hopefully including the muscular side sills, hanmerhead LED section splitting the headlights, exaggeration of the signature Volvo hook tail-light, and vertical floating grille.The 21-inch orange-accented wheels and similarly luridly coloured front and rear skid plates are unlikely to survive, although they're starting to seem less eye-gouging than at first sight.Expect the XC90 in production form to have a full arsenal of the latest Volvo safety tech, including pedestrian-detecting automatic braking and collision-avoiding 'convoy' system that lets you autonomously follow the car in front.We'll have to wait until closer to Detroit to find out what's under the XC Concept Coupe's clamshell bonnet, but it's likely to echo the Concept Coupe's hybrid set-up with a turbocharged and supercharged (for high and low rev response) 1.4-litre engine mated with an electric motor, together producing a total of 300kW of power and 600Nm of torque.However while a hybrid variant is a possibility for the production XC90, the range will also carry something closer to the current engine choices of a 179kW/320Nm 3.2-litre petrol unit -- although possibly downsized -- and a 147kW/420Nm 2.4-litre diesel.And the platform and styling behind the show crossover won't stop at spawning just the XC90, with a replacement due for the smaller XC60 within the next two years, and Volvo already having indicated the desirability of a little XC40 to woo buyers in the booming baby crossover segment.

Innovation, many hybrids and all-electrics, some high-powered models and a couple of striking retro-inspired coupes are the highlights of this year's Frankfurt motor show. Throw in some staged antics and the world's biggest car show becomes even better.Volvo set the pace with an unveiling of its Concept Coupe, a technologically advanced number of exceptional grace reminiscent of its iconic P1800 of the 1960s. It embodies what Volvo calls its 'human centric experience' and apart from a host of safety electronics, has the new 2.0-litre four-cylinder motor that will soon replace the brand's five and six-cylinder engines.The engine has turbo and supercharging plus a plug-in electric motor, resulting in V8-like performance, but with minicar fuel consumption. However, the classy coupe is not scheduled for production in the near future. Instead, it marks the capability of Volvo's new architecture and elements of its design will feature on all future models, starting with the new XC90 in about a year.Frankfurt was also used to display a growing trend towards compact premium SUVs. Mercedes-Benz showed its cute new GLA-class SUV with new generation 4matic all-wheel drive, and Infiniti unveiled its Q30 concept, which it said was in a unique class, being a blend of coupe, hatch and crossover. A surprise was the appearance of F1 racing camp Sebastien Vettel, who said he helped sort the Q30's handling.Minutes later, Lexus trumped that by having a couple of giant animated creatures, seemingly from outer space, whip the covers of its new LF-NX, another smallish Crossover concept. It, too, had a hybrid powertrain and despite an enthusiastic description of how it's brushed metal finish made it look as if carved from a single billet of solid metal, it was just plain ugly.Then there were the glam cars: Ferrari, Maserati, Jaguar, BMW, Aston-Martin and lots of specially-bodied creations from Brabus and similar outfits, scores of Fiats and Smarts, Hyundais and Kias and about 50 more brands. Spread through about a dozen vast halls, they added up to sore feet and bewildered looks as people did their best to absorb the techno and visual overdose of tomorrow's dream machines.