Though sales are down, Volvo has slowly been grabbing headlines of late. Thanks to investments by Chinese owner Geely, the Swedish carmaker is poised for a major comeback. And MotorWeek was on hand to check out the latest buzz.

Alongside some impressive concept vehicles and the brand’s safety heritage, high efficiency will be one of Volvo’s pillars going forward. Their line of new Drive-E powertrains aims for “best in class” fuel economy as well as reduced emissions.

The 6 and 5 cylinder engines are history, as the Drive-E family now consists of a 4- cylinder engine in two variants. The designation, however, stays the same:

The T5 is now a 2.0 liter turbocharged 4- cylinder rated at 240 horsepower, while the T6 is a turbocharged AND supercharged version with 302 horsepower.

In addition to up-to-date engineering-- Drive-E also includes start/stop, regenerative braking systems and a new, eight-speed automatic gearbox.

No word on exact fuel economy, but Volvo says it could go up as high as 26 percent. Sizing down the engines also leaves room for development in the future.

…or the not-so-distant future, as Volvo has an all-new XC90 on the way, recently snapped by our spy photographer during testing. It will include a plug-in hybrid model, coupling the new Drive-E 4 cylinder with a rear axle motor. The goal is to offer PHEV versions of several models as their top trim levels-- boosting efficiency, performance and luxury.

And we’ll keep you “plugged in” to all that’s new coming up--but for now, that’ll do it for this week’s Motor News.