Lots to unpack here...

• The days of China made = inferior quality aren't totally gone but rapidly disappearing. This is especially true in cars. I take some solace in that Geely (the Chinese investor) seems to understand basic quality concepts and Volvo understands safety and style. That's a combo we decided we could live with FWIW.
• As far as "signaling" goes, I'm not sure how it is up in the Great White North but here in the USA you'll take a lot more crap for driving electric than driving a Volvo (Chinese investment or not). Don't try to understand it - it's not a rational thing - just enjoy the car!
• The "take control away" thing is ALL new cars, and Volvo's Drive Pilot is the least intrusive I've used so far. If it had been an option we wouldn't have purchased it, but that's not the case in the USA. Our 2012 Tesla Model S P85 is one of the very few with NO Autopilot hardware AND the ability to turn the traction control full off. (You don't want to - trust me on that. ) We call it the "Driver's Edition" and the other Tesla pilots we know get kinda jealous truth be told. The Tesla Model 3/Y ADAS stuff is wretchedly intrusive - which is a large part of why we didn't buy one.

 

The days of China made = inferior quality aren't totally gone but rapidly disappearing. This is especially true in cars. I take some solace in that Geely (the Chinese investor) seems to understand basic quality concepts and Volvo understands safety and style. That's a combo we decided we could live with FWIW.

Agreed, reminds me when the first Lada got here, they were BAD.

As far as "signaling" goes, I'm not sure how it is up in the Great White North but here in the USA you'll take a lot more crap for driving electric than driving a Volvo (Chinese investment or not). Don't try to understand it - it's not a rational thing - just enjoy the car!

Signaling ? No sure why you are talking about that, I think my friend's point was about not encouraging a country with poor human rights, not about what others think of his choices. But when you see how lots of lithium is obtained you pretty much can forget about human rights, in any EV. That being said here in the province of Québec, electric car are very popular and definitely not frown upon. I think it's kind of the Norway of North America.

According to Canada Energy Regulator : "In 2021, most new electric vehicles were registered in Canada’s three most populous provinces. 43% of new electric vehicles were registered in Quebec, 28% in British Columbia, and 23% in Ontario. " Ontario has almost twice the poulation of Québec.

The "take control away" thing is ALL new cars, and Volvo's Drive Pilot is the least intrusive I've used so far.

I see a difference between intrusive and flexible, but I'm thinking of the overhall vehicule/experience. Did some quick checking.

• Tesla : you can disable tracking control, in some circomstance. It's call slip start. Model Y Owner's Manual | Tesla
• Tesla you can disable emergency lane departure avoidance : Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla.
• Bolt: Tracking control can be disabled
• ID 4. Lane assist can be disabled. https://myevmanual.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/2020-volkswagen-id-4_line_assist.pdf
• Nissan Ariya has a start button.
• Telsa can disable regen if you want to heat the breaks. telsla disable regen - Google Search
• Most EV have configurable level of regen.
• I check manual of 4 EV and they all have balance-fade sound control.

 

I was talking to my manager at the dealer today. He tells me that the Volvo five year plan is quite something. He came from ten years at Audi, and he believes the quality and safety innovations are setting them apart. He has a vested interest, but if the product coming from Volvo, Polestar and Zeekr are anything to go by, the coming years are going to be interesting to watch.

 

TikTok is the real threat.

 

Just to be clear, it was not thinking about any threat/danger of some sort, but more about the social implication and influence in the design.

 

But I do wonder about a Chinese influence in the design. I get a "communist" vibe from the XC40R/2023, as in : we take control away from you and get to decide how things are. Shut up and put up. It's the first time I feel a vehicle is more theirs than mine. From the stuff I read , it seems the Chinese are more investors than implicated in the design, but I have no information to back this up.

Geely are capitalists. ****, the Chinese are ALL capitalists, to the core. There is no overt design control over Volvo coming out of the financial arrangements with Geely. If that were so, you’d see your list of features, those that you seem to object to, commonly enforced across all of Geely’s dozens of EV and ICE cars, don't you think? Just my opinion, Volvo made several decisions to expedite getting the SPA series to market and the result was a bunch of features that the consumer cannot turn off.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geely

 

If that were so, you’d see your list of features, those that you seem to object to, commonly enforced across all of Geely’s dozens of EV and ICE cars, don't you think?

Good point, I never looked at Geely's other brand.

 

If you are so worried about Chinese influence can I suggest that you get rid of your phone, computer, tablets, the majority of your electronics home appliances. Then find a replacement made elsewhere for not more than five times the price. Good luck in your cave

 

I think you misread my OP.

 

According to Statista, Public expense vs GDP shows that Sweden is about 40% like Canada.
France is at 50%
USA is 37%
China is at ..... 33%

So Canada and Sweden are way more communist than China, in fact.
And USA too

So could you define more precisely what you call "communist" vibe?

If you feel an overprotective cocoon deciding what is safe for you before you need it, that's a Volvo, you know.....

 

So could you define more precisely what you call "communist" vibe?

I open a can of worm didn't I -) By communist I meant where governement and industries puts more importance on the group than the individual.

If you feel an overprotective cocoon deciding what is safe for you before you need it, that's a Volvo, you know.....

I'm totally fine with that, but I must say compared to other recent cars I've own/drive I don't feel any safer ( aside from what comes with the weight and AWD) . I do feel out of control through and being treated like I just learn to drive. I'm not sure that's a Volvo thing. I assume that's recent and probably cause by pressure to get to market ASAP and maximize profit as bogiesan suggested in post #7.

 

It’s time for folks to drop this hype about China. The best EVs are now designed and manufactured for the Chinese market way before folks in less tech countries like the USA. If you haven’t visited the Shanghai motor show online or in person, you are missing some of the most advanced tech on low cost cars even at 20k USA. Geely saved Volvo from destruction by a USA company so go figure. For those like me who can remember the late 1950s that is what China is now but with tech savviest cars at reasonable prices. It’s just USA won’t get them because of corporate greed and money in the pockets of politicians.

 

Interesting thanks.

 

It's something I have been thinking about with a couple additional Volvo/Polestar cars on order. I was reading that the government is increasingly becoming involved in the inner management of private companies with Geely specifically referenced, which is sort of disappointing in a sense, but I don't believe you are seeing evidence of government involvement with the designs or functions as of now, or even decisions made by Geely. Volvo still has operational autonomy at this point from what I understand. The safety systems you're speaking about such as a relatively low speed limiter, or the inability to turn off lane assist are Volvo decisions entirely.
I guess what I'm curious about is the more practical over political, since as you say so much of our lives and economy are tied to China. Is a car like the Polestar 2 manufactured in china any different from the new car which will be made in South Carolina eventually? Or the Belgium cars like our early XC40's Recharges.
I also think about stock like PSNY. Which for holders within the NYSE is only owning off shore paper representing shares in the company. It's all probably not ideal.
This is all before we get to how these BEV manufactures are addressing raw materials environmentally, as well the human costs. Which I believe Volvo and Polestar are taking quite seriously. It's hard to know what is best.

 

Your question around whether the vehicles “manufactured” (which, in most cases, only refers to the assembly of the vehicle parts) in one part of the world will be different than those assembled in factories located in other parts of the world, I think that you can already see the answer to that in the marketplace. “American cars” are actually allowed to be labeled that way if they are assembled somewhere in North America due to NAFTA. My understanding for years now has been that one of the major pickup truck brands “builds” their core offerings in Canada.
The two aspects that I feel are more important, and more relevant to the consumer, are where the vehicles are designed, and where the parts are manufactured. The designers have a huge impact on the purchaser and driver(s) of the vehicle, and would naturally be impacted to some degree by their social and cultural surroundings. The manufacturers of the parts, in my opinion, are impacted to some degree by the quality reputation of the surrounding business environment.
Personally, I don’t care if my vehicle is assembled in China, or Belgium, or India, or wherever, as long as it demonstrates the quality of construction that I am paying for. Since I’m already using a China assembled smartphone (Apple), China assembled iPad and China assembled MacBook, along with Sony TV and lots of electronic devices manufactured in China, I feel confident that if I pay for quality I will get quality, regardless of the nationality of the factory workers involved.
Frankly, though I am loathe to say this, I wonder if some of the concerns about China manufacturing consumer goods has its roots in the anti Chinese perspectives which were prevalent 150 years ago in America when Chinese workers were building the railroads out west. I don’t see failure rates of Chinese built products exceeding products being built in other locations, so I don’t understand what the issue is.
Volvo is a Swedish company taking financial advantage of a global economy and workforce, just like every other company in the world.

 

Volvos are crap now. When they were Sweadish the cars were something.
Now they are nothing but breakdown after breakdown.
They don't like the cold and have more electrical issues that I can care to mention.
I have owned my XC40 for 8 months and 2 of those they have been at volvo being repaired. 25% of the time I have owned it has been at volvo. It isn't a year old yet!
Guess you need to make your own decision, but don't waste your money!

 

Volvos are crap now. When they were Sweadish the cars were something. Now they are nothing but breakdown after breakdown. They don't like the cold and have more electrical issues that I can care to mention. I have owned my XC40 for 8 months and 2 of those they have been at volvo being repaired. 25% of the time I have owned it has been at volvo. It isn't a year old yet!
Guess you need to make your own decision, but don't waste your money!

Feel better now?

 

Saw recently that Musk owns 15% of Tesla.
And Tesla is Musk, right?

China owned 18% of USA debt in 2014, now down to 6-7%

So, it's really a matter of where you put the cursor