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Though Ford's ownership begins in the late 90's their influence doesn't make an appearance before 2001. It shows up to a limited extent in the styling of the "new" V70, and to a larger extent in the XC90 (Ford's thumbprints are all over this one). The S60 is mostly a Swede, the exterior style being a reduced-scale version of the S80 on a re-engineered 70-class platform.
Until recently, Ford has left these groups to function independently. But now Ford is losing dollars big time...but Volvo is making Kronors hand over fist. Can William Clay Ford keep his hands off?
But the real question is whether (or when) Ford's premier automotive group renders the Volvo and Jaguar brands meaningless by collapsing everything into a shared-platform environment (including the Taurus). This is the brilliant strategy employed by GM over the years. If this doomsday scenario transpires, the only salvation would be for the proto-platform to be Volvo based.
Only one company does the platform thing well, in my opinion: Audi/VW. The Passat is a cross between an A4 and A6, and referred to at VW headquarters as a B5. Except for the W8, the Passat is reasonably priced and a good value. Some might say the Toyota/Lexus arrangement is carried out well, but a Lexus feels like a heavy Toyota to me. (The GS's look good, though.)
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(98 S70 T5SE misc mods, mostly lighting) (92 940GLE)
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