Bad Volvo! 2011 S60 Gets Naughty

Even though some of their models can hold their own, Volvos aren’t exactly known for their performance abilities. With Volvo’s new ‘naughty’ campaign, they’re hoping to change that perception.

Volvo released two short 10 second spots claiming that “naughty volvos are coming” and this sparked speculation that the new S60 would have an R variant. We got pretty excited of this notion, but the new S60 didn’t even show up at the Geneva Auto Show as expected. Naughty!

Turns out the whole campaign was to just showcase the abilities of the T6. With 300 horsepower and 325 pound feet of torque, the new S60 is more powerful than the previous generation S60 R and has the same AWD system. There are three spots for the naughty campaign. Level 1 sees the S60 perform a slalom course with ease, though not really pushed. Level 2 has the S60 (now in red) drive the slalom a lot more aggressively around breakable objects. In Level 3, the S60 does the same thing as level 2, only it does it all in reverse.

There’s also going to be a level 4, but just how much naughtier the S60 gets is up to you. If you join Volvo’s facebook group you can have a say in what you want the S60 to do next. Our vote is to have the S60 do the course in reverse with the driver blindfolded. That would be impressive. Actually we’d be even more impressed if the S60 did the slalom faster than the 3 series or A4.

There’s also a naughty elk test as well!

See all the videos  after the jump

Read the rest of this entry »

This is What Happens When You Don’t Take Bailout Money

Your sales go up. Way up.

Of course, incorporating new product and upping the quality of existing product helps too.

Ford has done both and is definitely fairng the best out of the big three. The public seems to be rewarding their hard effort with increased sales, even in low volume segments. The F-150 SVT Raptor is already selling way more than predicted and now comes news that the 2011 Mustang ain’t doin’ so bad either. In fact, the 2011 Mustang is selling three times more than the 2009 Mustang did. The V6 is particularly doing well accounting for over half of the 2011 Mustang’s sales. We’re guessing that the 305 horsepower engine that returns 7.8 L/100 kms in fuel economy is the big draw.

The California Special edition is also doing well as it has also sold three times as much as two years ago. There apparently was already 11,000 orders for Mustangs placed in January and that number is expected to increase.

Time to step up your game, Challenger and Camaro.

We can’t wait for the Fiesta and Euro Focus to arrive!

Video: 2011 Volvo S60

Do you like a man in sunglasses that wears a blutooth earpiece? Do you like it when he gets into a sleek new car that no one owns yet and starts driving it aggressively? Do you like it when he drives it down an unusually well lit tunnel then bursts out the other end into road that seemingly has no traffic at all to impede his aggressive driving behaviour? Do you like it when the road suddenly turns into a desert so the man can start power sliding said new car all over the place? Do you like it when all of this happens to the sound of dramatic choir voices and string instruments in the background?

Then you’re going to love Volvo’s new promo video for the brand new 2011 S60 sedan! Check it out above