Volvo Penta Sae J-1171 P/n 3858069 Boat Trim Pump on 2040-parts.com

Volvo picks up Red Dot Design Award for new connectivity system

Volvo's Sensus Connected Touch connectivity system with the world's first voice-activated integrated Spotify connection has been awarded a 2013 Red Dot Design Award. The Sensus Connected Touch accessory turns the integrated 7-inch display into an infrared, beam-scanned touch screen that can be used even when wearing gloves. The system can be controlled using the touchscreen, the steering wheel or the center stack, while you can also voice-activate all music sources. Alain Visser, senior vice president of marketing, sales and customer service at Volvo, says, "The Red Dot Design Award confirms that this approach to an intuitive, human-centric user experience fulfils modern car owners' desire to remain constantly connected also when driving." The WiFi connection can be made using either a car-mounted 3G/4G-dongle or the driver's mobile phone, and the data is transferred by the WiFi between the phone and the Sensus Connected Touch.

2013 Land Rover Freelander 2 Facelift: Official

Land Rover has given the Freelander 2 a bit of a facelift for 2013 with an upmarket push, new trim levels and more equipment. We’ve been expecting Land Rover to give the Freelander 2 a facelift for 2013 – even though its only two years since the last one – to keep it fresh and able to stand alongside its trendy younger sibling, the Range Rover Evoque. What Land Rover has actually done with this facelift for the Freelander is blur the lines even more between Land Rover and Range Rover, with a push upmarket for the Freelander 2.

Maybach, or not Maybach? That is the question.

Maybach - off to Gaydon? Actually, whether to keep Maybach on the Daimler life support system is a question that has taxed the brains of many a Mercedes exec,  almost since the Maybach brand got its revival under Mercedes and turned in to a cross between a stretched old S-Class, a Playstation and a glitterball. Because despite the efforts of Mercedes to position the Maybach above the S-Class – and in to competition with Rolls Royce and Bentley – the Maybach has somehow conspired to be less desirable than the S-Class.