Cryptic Message
Last week, after posting a short history of our seat belt, I received an e-mail from Sören, a man of very few words, always cryptic. His message was something like: “What, Clive and Mary.” And that was it. No clue what he was getting at. I sent an equally sparse reply: ‘?’. And of course, [...]
A journey that started with a ‘Click’
On July 14, 2010, our simple life saving device, the three-point seat belt, will forever be a part of American history. The Smithsonian National Museum of American History will officially accept Volvo’s three-point seat belt into their collection. On that day, with a press event for media, business, government and Smithsonian officials, a little bit [...]
Word Smithing 101
When Toyota announced their Star Safety System, we started to scratch our heads like, “Gosh, what makes that so special?” I put together lists of what Volvo had, when we had it, when it was fitted, to what models, if there were any markets we didn’t have something fitted … and it became overwhelming. So [...]
First reviews of our all new S60
The on sale date for the all new 2011 S60 is mid-September. James is getting a media lauch ready for early September; we call this a ‘short lead’ since most publications attending are able to turn around their stories rather quickly. Funny, long lead meaning print media that need 2-3 months to get articles in [...]
What does the History Channel, a Spy Car, and soon to be crushed XC60 have in common?
A lot! About four months ago the History Channel’s newest series, Sliced, called and wanted to get a seat belt and air bag to cut open. Told them we’ll give them a whole car and it seems we caught them completely off guard. We gave them an XC60 that was heading to US Customs certified crusher. [...]
First U.S. Journalist to Drive the 2011 Volvo S60
Roger Hart from AutoWeek just came back from Germany, a great place to test drive any car, and in the link below he writes about our new S60 coming this later this year. http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100517/CARREVIEWS/100519894 dan
History Channel – Sliced – From Seat Belt to Flame Thrower
In early January, we fielded a call from one of History Channel’s segment producers, Powder House Productions. “We are starting a new show on History Channel, can you guys send us a seat belt and air bag?” In my world that’s on open invitation, kind of like you going into a candy shop with [...]
Our future is about Prevention
Some cool news about XC60 via the below press release. dan — Volvo Cars’ active safety system German ADAC test winner The largest automotive organization in the world, German ADAC, has carried out an extensive comparison test of different automatic speed and distance control systems. Volvo XC60 clearly won the test in which six different [...]
When an action speaks louder than words
You can get a Lexus or BMW that warns you if a pedestrian is in your path. But only a Volvo with the Pedestrian Safety System can actually do something about that carbon-based life form you’re about to hit. Don’t get me wrong, both make awesome cars and, given the money or mentality, either one [...]
A Really Good Question
The other day, we were asked if we keep adding systems like Blind Spot, Driver Alert, Lane Departure, Collision Warning with Auto Braking, City Safety and, in the future, Pedestrian Safety, if we are taking control away from the driver. Well yes and no. This question came up years ago when manufactures started adding ABS [...]
