By 2020, the company hopes to be within the top 10 of most used fleet vehicles in the world.

Last year, Volvo broke past their 20,000 mark for fleet registrations, which is up 94 units from 2010. They hope 2012 will see a growth of 17% in true fleet sales this year, according to national operations manager Selwyn Cooper.

“Corporate sales in the UK need to double by 2020 and the majority will be to end-user customers,” Cooper added. “We have a fairly limited rental and no plans to grow that – the growth will come from real end users.

With the release of V40 later this year, as well as other vehicle concepts coming soon, it will be easier for this car maker to add variety to the line-up.

The car will be revealed initially during March’s Geneva Motor Show. “It’s a great opportunity for us. When my guys are going out and looking at a tender it is a hole for us at the moment,” added Cooper.

Citing poor sales of their wagon designs, Volvo has cut yet another vehicle from their North American line. Larger cars sell better Stateside, and hatchbacks are still relatively new in this part of the world. Volvo’s answer (and replacement) to this is a rumored XC40 crossover, which will be placed one trim level under XC60.

If XC40 hits dealer lots in America, it will most likely targeted “other premium compact crossovers like the upcoming BMW X1 and Audi Q3.”

Source: MotorAuthority

This announcement follows the discontinuation of Volvo’s V70 wagon from American markets.

According to Volvo, S40 sales were down 29% in 2010, V50 sales dropped more than 50% during that same period. Wagon variants tend to not sell well in the US, as opposed to Europe where hatchbacks and wagons have a “sportier tradition.”

Volvo V50

Volvo spokesperson Dan Johnston added, “It seemed American buyers weren’t looking for that kind of product and for us as a car company, it’s not profitable to sell something that has a declining market share.”

The Swedish automaker will focus on vehicles more in tune with US consumer tastes: S60, S80, XC60, XC70 and the XC90.

Source: WCF

“MIT students have developed a new battery technology that could make recharging an electric car as simple as refueling a traditional automobile.”

“The technology is based on a new liquid fuel, which the students have dubbed “Cambridge Crude”, which can be removed and replaced from a battery pack within minutes.”

“The process involves charged particles which float in a electrolyte liquid between two chambers in the battery pack – one for energy storage and another which discharges the energy. This type of architecture will make batteries ten times more efficient than current battery technology. Another added benefit is that this kind of battery is cheaper to produce than the lithium-ion packs which currently power most hybrid and electric cars.”

Source: WCF

Volvo seems an unlikely carmaker to explore the use of kinetic-energy recovery flywheels in its pedestrian automobiles, but the traditionally safety-oriented company is indeed working to bring the Formula 1 tech to its cars. Volvo joins Porsche and its GT3 R hybrid racer in the utilization of a kinetic-energy recovery system (KERS) that uses the energy of a flywheel spun to high speed by recovered braking energy to aid a car’s engine during acceleration.

In Volvo’s system, the flywheel is mechanically coupled and decoupled from the rear axle using a continuously variable transmission. The CVT engages the flywheel as the car slows, spinning it to up to 60,000 rpm, then decouples the flywheel as the car comes to a halt, finally re-coupling the spinning flywheel to the rear wheels when the car accelerates from a stop. Volvo’s mechanical, motorless rear-axle-mounted setup is unique from Porsche’s approach to KERS, which relies on motor-generators to spin up the flywheel, recover its energy, and transfer that energy back to the car’s forward motion. (Read more about the system in the 911 GT3 R hybrid here.) Volvo claims that the flywheel’s accelerative boost not only aids fuel economy, but performance as well, with up to 80 additional horsepower available when the flywheel and engine join forces.

Because the flywheel doesn’t spin forever—the laws of physics cannot be beat, so it loses rotational inertia over time—the KERS system is most effective in stop-and-go driving, where each stop can spin the flywheel, which can then be used to get the car going again for a brief period of time. Volvo is aware of the situational limits of the KERS system, so it has worked to make the flywheel as efficient as possible. This means that the flywheel is made of carbon fiber, making it lighter—the 7.84-inch diameter flywheel weighs just 13 pounds—and increasing its rotational capacity. The flywheel spins in a vacuum to minimize friction losses.

Source: Car & Driver

Commuters passing through the busy Zurich Bahnhof over the course of a week in February got a special treat. There, Volvo set up its latest S60 luxury sedan against a white backdrop as an “art car” project, and invited ten graffiti artists to share their vision. The process was captured by camera at 10-second intervals to make a three-minute time-lapse video.

Street Art (and art in general) has become a huge draw for automotive marketing. Recently, the upcoming Chevrolet Orlando was honored with a Play-Doh representation of its vehicle in London. Last year, Audi celebrated a major anniversary with a giant metal sculpture, which had an Audi sedan perched atop it.

Via Luxist

Designed to be “one of the most fuel-efficient vehicles ever created,” V60 features a 2.4-liter five-cylinder diesel engine and an ERAD (Electric Rear Axle Drive) motor, powered by a 12 kWh lithium-ion battery. The engine produces 212 hp and 324 lb-ft of torque, while the electric motor churns out 69 hp and 149 lb-ft of torque:

Source – WCF

Volvo didn’t breakdown its $11 billion investment by country, but it’s clear that China will be receiving most of the funds. Volvo CEO Stefan Jacoby confirmed on Friday that the Swedish automaker is considering exporting China-made vehicles.

“It is obvious that at some point manufacturers will export from China,” Jacoby said. “We, as a global premium brand with European heritage, have a very good opportunity to be owned by a Chinese enterprise and to utilize our manufacturing capacities here.”

In addition to a manufacturing base, China will also play a major role in Volvo’s sales goals. Volvo is aiming to double its global sales to 800,000 units by 2020, with China expected to make up a large portion of that. Volvo expects to sell 200,000 cars in China by 2015, up from 30,000 in 2010.

According to World Car Fans: Designed to compete in the World Challenge GT Series, the car features an aggressive front fascia, a ventilated hood, and a massive rear wing. It will be officially unveiled at the Miller Motorsports Park in April, before competing against entries such as the Cadillac CTS-V Racing Coupe.

Technical specifications haven’t been released, but Volvo stated they will field two cars and both will be equipped with all-wheel-drive.

Volvo currently rolls out 9 models a year in the US of A. Expect three, possibly four of those to go. V70 was recently given the boot – and President of Volvo North America, Doug Speck, has already confirmed the V50 is out. Other models, including S60, XC60 and XC90 are not going anywhere. So, which do you think are next?

The auto maker believes “a smaller lineup will help them maximize their marketing efforts and increase consumer awareness.”

Source: WCF