Whichever team best navigates the light winds of the cold front and reaches the trades first will hold a huge advantage over their rivals as they rocket north at speeds of more than 20 knots — and any losses made over the initial days of Leg 6 will become brutally clear.

After overhauling CAMPER and Abu Dhabi as they struggled in lighter airs overnight, PUMA Ocean Racing powered by BERG looked strongest as the fleet approached the front currently blocking their path.

But with Telefónica and Groupama shaving miles off the leaders from their more offshore position, the pressure was on to get through as quickly as possible without losing miles to any other team.

“Today’s the big day really,” said PUMA navigator Tom Addis. “The first boat into the trades has a pretty major advantage — you can extend for quite a long time and be quite hard to catch.

“This is the critical one. Some points on some race tracks aren’t critical, but this one is critical.”

With the front around 60 miles ahead, the teams were ploughing all their resources into working out the best line to take through its light, fluky winds.

“I spent a lot of last night working on our approach for this stuff,” Addis added. “We’re happy with our position and if we’re in the lead our chances [of reaching the trades first] are something more than 50 per cent.

“But we’re leading into some light stuff and there will be some pressure from behind so we’ll just try and do the best we can and be the first one out. It’s important to be the first one out.”

Meanwhile, Franck Cammas’ men on fifth-placed Groupama sailing team were doing their best to hang on to Telefónica in conditions that seemed to favour the overall race leaders.

“We are more used to being the hunted rather than the hunters,” said Groupama navigator Jean-Luc Nélias. “In general, we’ve been on the same option as Telefónica and they’ve always been a bit faster than us.

“We’re investigating — we’re looking below the hull, we’re looking at the daggerboards, checking if there is some seaweed or plastic stuck on them, but the conclusion right now is that we are a bit behind.”

However with the cold front transition zone immanent, Nélias said there were plenty of opportunities to pass their rivals up ahead.

“It’s a bit like the Doldrums,” he added. “It’s so hazardous and complicated that it’s not always the first to enter it who leaves it first.”

The ‘designed around you’ showroom will complete the luxury experience for Volvo car buyers. “We are fortunate to be associated with Volvo Auto India in this venture. Together our endeavour will be to provide customers with a global Volvo experience,” said R.B Sivaganesh, Executive Director, Artemis Cars.

The luxury car maker’s current model line-up in India comprises the XC90, XC60, S80 and S60. The company recently launched S60, S80 and XC60 models with a 2.0-litre, five-cylinder, turbo-diesel engine option that delivers 165PS of power and an impressive 400Nm of torque at a starting price of Rs. 23.99 lakh, Rs. 31.99 lakh and Rs. 33.99 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). The S60, S80 and XC60 had come into the market at an introductory price of Rs. 23.20 lakh, Rs. 31.20 lakh and Rs. 33.20 lakh respectively (ex-showroom Delhi), however, the prices went up by Rs. 1 lakh across all models after the 2012 Union Budget.

   MAIN FACTS:

-As of Jan. 1, 2012, the Volvo Group has introduced a new organization, which it said better utilizes the global potential of the group’s brands and products.

-The new framework impacts to some extent how revenues and expenses are reported between the different reportable segments, but the group’s consolidated net sales and operating income remains unchanged. Some expenses have also been reclassified within the income statement.

-Financial information for 2011 has been restated to facilitate comparison.

-Excel files are available for download on www.volvogroup.com

-At 1037 GMT shares traded down 2.9% at SEK90.90.

“If we look at the economic growth in the so-called lion economies, which include a number of countries in this region, it is very high at the moment and it is important that we make a correct analysis of how and when to enter these markets,” Olof Persson said.

The company is holding its annual general meeting Wednesday in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Volvo, the world’s second-largest commercial-truck maker after Daimler AG (DAI.XE, DDAIY), posted net sales of SEK310.4 billion ($46.3 billion) in 2011, of which 39% was generated in Europe, 24% in Asia, 19% in Europe, 11% in Latin America and 7% in other regions.

The Volvo Group, which includes the Volvo, Renault, Mack, UD and Eicher truck brands as well as Volvo construction equipment, marine-engine unit Volvo Penta and aircraft-engine unit Volvo Aero, is implementing a new organization. The purpose of the new company structure, according to Volvo, is to better utilize the global potential of its different brands.

Persson said the company is evaluating the possibility of working with several brands in markets where it is only present with one.

“We have the Volvo and Renault brands, we have the UD brand, which means one thing in Japan and another in Asia, and we also have Eicher, which again means something else entirely,” he said. “To use these different brands in order to get as big a market share as possible, that is what I mean by utilizing the full potential of Volvo.”

He said Volvo will need all of 2012 to come up with a new brand-positioning strategy.

“Our basic view is that the owner of an electric vehicle shouldn’t have to sacrifice any of the qualities he or she expects from a luxury car. Our aim is to create innovative solutions that make electric car ownership smooth and easy in all conditions,” says Lennart Stegland, Vice President Electric Propulsion Systems at Volvo Car Corporation.

Keeping the batteries in good condition and the passenger compartment comfortably warm in subzero climate requires a lot of energy.

Since the operating range becomes shorter if this energy is taken from the car’s battery pack, Volvo Car Corporation decided to work out a more efficient and flexible solution.

In the C30 Electric, there is no need to waste power from the healthy, fully charged battery to keep the passenger compartment pleasantly warm.

The almost all-electric nomenclature was given to this car because of the presence of an ethanol-burning heater inside it to provide the passengers with adequate heat in cold climates.

The company has always highlighted this car’s climate control system which has been specifically designed to maximize the vehicle’s range in cold climates.

The pre-conditioning system uses an immersion heater to warm the battery and passenger compartment when the vehicle is charging. While the system runs on a pre-programmed schedule, it will automatically activate when the temperature reaches -15° C (5° F) in the core of the battery.

The Volvo C30 BEV is currently powered by a highly efficient Lithium-ion battery that can be recharged through a regular A/C power outlet and after eight hours the car is fully ready to travel up to 150 kilometers.

Perfect for the everyday commute to work or even a quiet and carefree Sunday drive, the car is an absolute delight for day-to-day commuting. The electric C30 is limited to 130 km/h and it can sprint from 0 to 60 MPH in less than 11 seconds.

Volvo feels that electricity is the fuel of the future and that zero emissions highways are what the next generation of new car buyers will be looking for.

This week the venture also hired a new pitchman, Chinese-American basketball sensation Jeremy Lin.

Despite Volvo’s Chinese owners, The People’s Republic of China determines it to be a foreign company. Because Volvo is based in Gothenburg, Sweden, it is subject to complex rules requiring it to have a local partner for production in China.  Ford Motor Co. sold Volvo to the consortium in August, 2010 for $1.8 billion.

Stefan Jacoby, president and CEO of Volvo, told Reuters this week the company intended to make China “our second home market,” after Sweden. Jacoby, formerly the head of Volkswagen in the U.S., has said he eventually plans to use 90 percent Chinese-made parts in Volvos.

The new agreement will allow Geely to use Volvo technology for Geely cars in China. Jacoby, a hard-driving German executive, says his goal is for Volvo one day to account for a fifth of the world’s luxury car market, which is currently dominated by BMW, Audi, Mercedes, and Lexus.

In a second remarkable development, the companies Monday signed Lin, the 23-year-old New York Knicks basketball star and son of Taiwanese immigrants, to help market Volvo globally. NBA basketball star Yao Ming, who hails from the People’s Republic, recently retired, leaving Chinese basketball fans bereft of a connection to the sport.

Volvo, steeped in Swedish heritage, has long been a premium automotive brand with a strong presence in the U.S. and around the world.  Now under the Geely umbrella it is poised to gain share in the People’s Republic, especially if the company can navigate regulations and manufacture cars there under the Volvo brand.

Li Shufu, chairman of Geely, takes pains to assert that he intends to preserve the Volvo’s Swedish flavor.  “Geely is Geely.  Volvo is Volvo,” has become his mantra when asked about the possible blurring of Volvo’s distinctive character.