Volvo definitely will be bringing its next generation of compact models to the U.S., with the first to arrive being the next-generation of the XC40 crossover that will debut in 2018. “The 40-series will be at the heart of the brand,” Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson told us at the Geneva auto show, confirming that “it will also be a global platform.”
These 40-series models will be built around the new Volvo-engineered CMA architecture that will also be used by Volvo’s parent company, Chinese automaker Geely. Power will come from both four-cylinder and three-cylinder engines, with Samuelsson also confirming that Volvo is working on a hybrid version which, as on the XC90, will be badged as “Twin Engine” but which will feature a more conventional motor-assisted three-cylinder gasoline engine. He predicts that in Europe this new powerplant will progressively replace diesel engines over the next few years.
-The launch of the XC40 and the V40 and S40 that will follow it will end Volvo’s reliance on Ford engineering; the current V40 still sits on the Focus’s C1 platform and uses some Ford-sourced powertrains.
-Samuelsson confirmed that selling the new 40-series in America is a crucial part of his ambition to increase Volvo’s global production. Last year the Swedish company made 500,000 cars, but his ambition is to get to 800,000 cars a year, with expanded U.S. sales being a big part of that. The company will sell three “series” of models: the freshly launched XC90 and its S90 and V90 siblings at the top, the 40-series at the bottom and with a new range of 60-badged cars set to fill the space in between, built on the same modular SPA architecture as the XC90.
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In the future, Volvo wants to sell pretty much all of its models globally, meaning that we should get all of the smaller versions. “There may be a few exceptions,” Samuelsson told us, “like for example a long wheelbase S60 for China, but in general it makes sense to sell cars as widely as possible.”
-from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1QxPtDZ
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