Actually, Ford acquired Volvo in 1999. S90's, S60's and S80's are still Volvo cars. The old S40 was built off of the Mitsubishi Carisma (not sold in the states), and the new S40 is built from Ford's new chassis, which is used for the Mazda 3 and the european Ford Focus.

You can read about the acquisition here:

http://www.detnews.com/2004/autosinsider/0404/04/a01-112086.htm

The new S40 is not that bad a car, it's just built on a chassis that you can get the Mazda 3 on for a significantly less.

The Ford acquisiton of Volvo is not that bad an issue....yet, but I think Volvo made a bad move in discontinuing rear wheel drive cars. Rear wheel drive is a trend that is coming back, with many US carmakers desiging a handful of RWD sedans.

With the new "Ford-inspired" Volvos that might roll off the line in the future, it will just make it more difficult to rationalize spending thousands more on a Volvo when you can find a similarly made car from another make. Ford is beginning to share platforms across its newly acquired makes.

I still think Volvo should begin reproducing the old 240's. I'd pay $20,000+ for a new 240 if they were being made. Who wouldn't? Mini had similar success by re-issuing their Cooper.
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'94 854 N/A.