Volvo has released details of its new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) which will underpin every new model the company produces from the S60 upwards.
The architecture, which will first be seen on the new XC90 next year, is part of Volvo's strategy to ensure that no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo by the year 2020.
The SPA architecture offers significant improvements in safety, both in terms of strength and in its ability to accommodate new technologies to prevent the car being involved in an accident in the first instance.
Volvo claims that 40 per cent of the structure for the new XC90 is made from high-strength boron steel, compared just 7 per cent in the original model, which first went on sale ten years ago.
The company is keen to point out that the SPA is not just focussed on structural technology, however. The architecture has been designed to incorporate new electrical technology as an when better microprocessors, sensors and cameras are introduced.
Volvo claims that its safety systems -- seatbelts, pre-tensioners, whiplash protection systems, airbags and inflatable curtains -- are continuously being enhanced, and all new cars based on the SPA architecture will feature a new rearward facing sensor which is used to detect a rear impact and adjust the seatbelts in advance to keep the occupants in place.
The SPA architecture also features also features detection and auto brake for large animals and pedestrians also when driving in the dark, along with Adaptive Cruise Control with steer assist which automatically follows the vehicle ahead in queues.
According to STRADA (Swedish Traffic Accident Data Acquisition), modern Volvos have a 60 per cent lower injury rate than the average modern vehicle in Sweden.
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