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Volvo S80 gets new diesel engine

Most of the talk in the last few months about Volvo has revolved around Ford’s efforts to ditch the last of its prestige marques in its fight for survival. Poor old Volvo appears to have been hawked around the world’s car makers in the hope of finding a fit for the pride of Sweden. But there have been no takers so far, not even Volvo trucks or the Swedish Government.

For new CAFE rules, automakers place high-stakes tech bets

Game-changing 2015 fuel economy rules are forcing vehicle development teams to make high-stakes bets on expensive technologies--bets that will separate the winners from the also-rans. Not only do federal rules target a 2015 fleet average of 35.5 mpg, up from the current 27.5 mpg for cars and 23.1 mpg for light trucks; they force automakers to bet on different technology packages for each vehicle segment. Companies that do best at mixing technologies while keeping down costs will have an advantage when buyers wince at higher stickers.

Stop buying new cars says government adviser

People should stop buying new cars and drive their old ones until they’re beyond repair, says a top government adviser. This news, reported by the Daily Telegraph, comes a day after we reported that new cars sales figures have hit a six-year high. On Bing: see pictures of scrap cars Find out how much a car over 10-years-old costs on Auto Trader Chief scientific adviser to the government’s energy department, David MacKay, said “car manufacturers love us to buy a new car every few years” and that Britain needs to end its throw away culture.