Now that BMW and Audi are creating more than line extensions than dueling cocaine dealers, Volvo seems ready to follow suit. Their answer to BMW's MINI Clubman and Audi's A3 Sportback? The ungainly Volvo V30. Based on the platform that spawned the S40, V50, C70, C30 and Segway (just kidding), the V30 is yet another five-door wagon. This one's slated to be almost 11" shorter than the V50 wagon, and haul about half the köttbollar. In fact, you could say the V30 four-seater is the P1800 wagon reincarnated, but I couldn't possibly comment. Expect the usual Volvo engine lineup of I4s, smooth I5s and Euroe-only diesels. The news guys at Teknikens Värld claim we'll see Volvo's DSG-style tranny– dubbed "PowerShift"– when the V30 finally rolls into town. Let's just hope the pictures don't do it justice.

You may remember Sweden's infamous Älgtest (a.k.a. moose or Elk test). A kamikaze professional driver guides a fully-laden vehicle (simulated passengers, genuine cargo) down a closed course at 35.5mph. He/she then swerves to avoid an object, then swerves back; simulating the manoeuvres needed to to miss both an errant moose and oncoming traffic. Back in '97, pictures of Mercedes' newly-launched A-Class flipping over during moose testing led the German automaker to retrofit every single car sold with a new Electronic Stability Program module. And now those crazy bastards at Teknikens Värld have put the Toyota Hilux through the same test — with similar results. (TTAC's American readers may remember the Hilux as the previous generation Toyota Tacoma pickup.) The video in the link brings back memories of the 1988 Consumer Reports exposé on the Suzuki "Somersault" Samurai. Anyway, hands-up anyone who thinks Toyota is going to retrofit ESP on old Hilux pickups? Yeah I thought so.

Sweden's Teknikens Varld reports that Mercedes is upgrading its delivery van Viano to create a newish MPV: the X-Clusive. After failing with their hearse-themed R-Class, after winning few hearts and minds with the panel-van based Vito (including the Brabus-wheeled "Sport-X" variant), Mercedes is hoping its bigger, blingier luxo-box– complete with that's-so-Chrysler rear facing middle seats– will catch both the executive taxi and desperate football Mom crowd. The X-Clusive will offer customers' a choice of 15.5 or 16.5 foot long bodies and blend luxury, "excessive comfort" and, uh, performance. X-Clusive buyers can have any color they like as long as its silver or black, and any engine they desire as long as it's a six (including a 204-horse 3.0-liter V6 CDI). No word on plans to import the X-Clusive stateside. Nor is any expected. 

The Audi TT-RS is quickly becoming one of the worst kept Audi development secrets since, well, the R8. First, there was the TT-S spy shot that Audi insisted wasn't a TT-S (oops). And now we have a high-res shots of the Porsche-wannabe doing laps on the ring with what looks like The Stig behind the wheel. According to the Swedish News Agency, the RS model is easily distinguished from its less hairy-chested sib by its larger air intakes on either side of the Billy-the-big-mouth-bass grill and the two large exhausts at the rear. (OK, so the Swedes didn't mention the fish features). The TT-RS is reportedly to put some 340 – 350hp onto the pavement, and you can bet there's a Quattro system aiding and abetting the deed. The TT-RS is heading for a 2009 model year debut. Historically, Audi only offers one RS model at a time. So exactly which vehicle will be the TT-RS' natural competition? The BMW M6, M5, M3? I'm thinking the as-yet-undeclared BMW M1. You?

Sharing a platform with a Ford Focus is something you’d probably want to keep under wraps; kind of like that cousin with webbed toes and twelve fingers. Fortunately, the latest Volvo V50 is actually the ritzy cousin of that much-lauded obscure object of desire (at least for Americans): the Euro Focus. As the V50/S40 accounts for a third of Volvo’s global sales, this is a good thing. But do good genetics make the V50 a good car, or does this smorgasbord of multinational automaking represent a sad swansong for Ford’s about to be divorced Swedish brand?  

GM's Swedish [in appearance only] division has decided it needs to take on the BMW-1 series and Audi A3 with a brand new model in 2010. Hoping to get a 9-1 with the Swede's slick AWD? Nej. Teknikensvarld.se reports the plan: compete with the German bad boys with a pair of hybrid engines stuffed into an Opel Astra with a Saab logo stuck on. True to their latest tune, GM has planned a conventional hybrid and a plug-in hybrid, and of course Lithium-Ion batteries are also being suggested. No word yet as to how GM [may] have managed to get Lithium batteries to work when Toyota is still adopting a "wait and develop" strategy. Also no word on what the 9-1 looks like, other than the fact that it will take styling cues from the Saab Aero X (pictured). Let's just hope that styling cue thing works out a bit better than it did in the 9-2x and 9-7x. 

After introducing a relative handful of Americans to the dubious joys of the Trailblazer-based, TTAC TWAT-winning (Ten Worst Automobiles Today) 9-7x, Saab has decided to try to reach its magical 200k sales per year goal by building another SUV. This erstwhile Swede will wear the stinking badge "Hecho en Mexico" and sit on a hybrid Epsilon 2 / Theta platform. Which makes you wonder: if a GM division modifies a "shared" platform so much that it's no longer interchangable with its "world car" colleagues, what the Hell's the point? Why not just build a new platform? Anyway, word has it that Saab's Mexican minions will fit the 9-4 with their new AWD system. The Euro-Saab's sweet turbo diesel engine will probably never make it to the USA (naturally). The looks are typically Swedish– via the outer rings of Saturn. A Cadillac version is also planned, as the fate of GM's "premium" brand makes the Rape of Lucretia seem like gentle seduction.

[Look for Justin Berkowitz' editorial on Cadillac tomorrow morning.] 

In 1998, Volvo was SUV deficient. As they didn't have a truck chassis upon which to build, those crazy Swedes grabbed a station wagon, raised it a couple of inches and added all wheel-drive. Since then, the XC70's ground clearance has risen, transforming a slightly jacked-up joy rider (6.5") to a Jeep-wannabe (8.2"). The move leaves Volvo with a fully-fledged… something. Whatever it is, it is what it is. And now that Volvo has a "proper" SUV, the question must be asked: is the XC70 an anachronism whose time has come and gone?

Porsche's hook-up with VW has paid off– big style. In the first fiscal half of 2007, the Stuttgart automaker's stake in VW generated 2.1b euros ($2.83b) for the formerly fully independent carmaker. According to Reuters, Porsche has taken steps to guard their new cash cow: they've secured financial derivative contracts to limit their foreign exchange exposure and secure the value of their 31 percent stake in VW. Porsche is also hiving-off its own car production operations into a separate corporate entity. Despite the VW-cash bonanza, Porsche CEO Wiedeking is still not satisfied by VW's restructuring progress. This from the man who's watched Cayenne sales plunged 41 percent in the last six months.

If cars were ordered by the foot, then the Ford Crown Victoria is exactly what you’d get if you walked into a Ford dealer and said “I’d like 17.6 feet of car please.” Other than length, Ford’s fleet-duty work horse has absolutely no outstanding features what-so-ever and very few features worth mentioning. Still, the Crown Vic and its panther playmates (the Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car) are perennial favorites among fleet buyers and, uh, fleet buyers. In fact, in anticipation of its removal from the retail field of battle, the Ford website doesn’t even list the Crown Victoria under “passenger cars.” Should they?

In 1959, William Lederer and Eugene Burdick wrote The Ugly American. The novel was celebrated by self-loathing intellectuals, who agreed with disdainful Europeans that Americans are far too stupid and arrogant to play any "useful" role in world politics. Yeah, well, screw that. If you're a latter day pistonhead willing to represent in the Eurozone, I suggest you do your bit to grace the Olde Worlde with American wit, intelligence, insight and humility. Buy your next ferrin' car via a European delivery program.

First impressions last. Or in this case, first. Anyway, the slightly-new-for-‘06 (but mostly unchanged since ‘99) Saab 9-5 SportCombi misses the mark at first glance. GM's Swedish division crafted a wagon that looks like a slightly larger Saab 9-3, only uglier. The SportCombi's low greenhouse, swoopy rear windows and huge up-curving C-pillars combine all the worst elements of a ‘00 Saturn SW wagon and a Cadillac SRX. The design says "We wanted to make a wagon, but we only had enough cash for a car-camper shell." Volvo continues to master Skandinavisk chic. Saab goes for cheap chic– and fails.

According to market researchers, American car buyers are more likely to ask “will I look cool in this thing?” than “is this the most efficient way to get from point A to point B?” Despite Honda’s rep for building the automotive equivalent of sensible shoes, CEO Kochi Kondo understands that America’s love affair with the automobile gets kinky from time to time. Well if he didn’t before, he does now, after Honda’s bizzaro Element somehow found favor with American grey panther platform refugees. You can almost hear him at the karaoke bar singing “You gotta fight, for your right, to paaaaaarrty!”

In January, Gary “Mr. Roadshow” Richards of the San Jose Mercury News argued that hybrid cars with one occupant should be allowed in California carpool lanes because they reduce congestion, gasoline usage and smog. Richards was deploying the exact same argument used to justify the passage of California statute AB 2628 which allowed “solo-carpools” in the first place. Here’s a simple question about the logic employed: was the California Assembly on peyote when they cooked up this crap?

A Volvo sports car is like a porno star wearing a condom: it makes perfect sense, and none at all. And yet, for reasons lost in the notes of a Ford strategy session gone bad, the brand best known for passenger fortification has developed an ongoing need to engage in protected sex appeal. Currently, the 300 horse S60R and V70R are the lead characters in this oxymoronic endeavor. Snicker if you must, but Volvo has publicly proclaimed that their R’s are suitable competition to BMW’s unassailable M3. Them’s fighting words!