12 7AugustNEWS NewVolvoXCmodelsinpipelineJohn McIlroy
[email protected]
@johnmcilroyVolvo’s thinking big –and
VOLVOislookingtoexpanditsrangeof
SUVstoincludeasmallermodel,below
theXC40,andalargerflagshipthatwould
sitabovetheXC90atthetopoftheline-up.
TheSwedishmarquepostedrecordsales
volumesofmorethan340,000vehiclesduring
thefirsthalfof2019,helpedbytheaddition
ofitssmallestcurrentSUV,theXC40.Thiswas
despiteprofitstakingaslighthitduetotariffs
andtightermarginsindecliningmarkets.
NowVolvobossHåkanSamuelssonhas
admittedthatthefirmmayconsideradding
furthertypesofcartoitsline-up.Hetold
AutoExpress:“Ourstrategyhasbeen
growth,butnotthroughaddingpure
volumes.We havebeengoinginhardand
beingbetterinsegmentswherewehave
areallystrongoffering.Thatisthebasic
assumption.Andnowwealsohavethe
productioncapacitytogrowthiscompany.
“Butwearenotexcludingtheideaof
additions,especiallyinverycoresegments,
liketheSUV.Ithinkwearelookingintothis
possibilitynow.Youshouldnotexcludethe
ideathattheremightbeabiggerone,but
maybealsoasmallerone.We willsurprise
youaboutthatinthefuture.”Acquisition
Thereareacoupleofkeydevelopmentsthat
makeeitherofthesenewmodelsegments
possibleforVolvo.Thesmallermodelis
beingmadefeasiblebytheacquisitionof
a50percentstakeinsmall-carspecialist
SmartbyVolvo’sowner,Geely.
Bringinganadditionalbrandtothegroup
allowsshareddevelopmentcostsasVolvo
triestodownsizetheCMAplatformto
supportavehiclethat’slikelytobearound
fourmetresinlength,thesameasthelikes
oftheAudiQ2andMINICountryman.It’s
verylikelytobeofferedonlyasapure-electric
car, aspreviewedinourexclusiveimages.
SamuelssonfirstadmittedtoAutoExpress
inthespringthatanewbabyVolvocould
happen–particularlyifthefirmmanagesto
developitsCareByVolvosubscriptionmodel,
whichwouldpotentiallyallowittoleasea
small,urban-focusedEVatasustainable
profit,insteadofhavingtocompeteat
traditionalpricepointsforthatsizeofmodel.
“WetookonestepdownwithXC40,which
isoursmallestSUV,”hesaid.“Wehaveavery
strongline-upofSUVs.Soneversaynever.
There’satrendnowthatpremiumnessismore
andmoredecoupledfromsize.Smallcars
canalsobepremium.Justbecauseyouhave
asmallsuit,itdoesn’thavetobepolyester.”
ThebadgeforthesmallerSUVremains
unclear,butVolvohasmaintaineddormant
trademarksforXC10,XC20andXC30for
almost20years.IthasalsoregisteredXC50,
anamethatcouldbeusedforaderivative
ofeithertheXC40or,conceivably,theXC60.
Higheruptherange,itseemslikely
thatVolvo’snext-generationflagshipwill●Geely’s stakeinSmartplus
new platform to help boost rangebecalledXC100whenitarrivesinaround
2022.Itisapossibilitybecausethefirm
isdevelopingthesecondgenerationof
itslarger-carplatform,calledSPA2.The
presentarchitecture,SPA,underpinsall
‘60’and‘90’-seriesmodels,butit’sunable
togomuchlargerthanthecurrentXC90.
AutoExpressunderstandsthatSPA2will
beengineeredtosupportvehiclesupto5.
metreslong.Andcrucially, thethirdPolestar
model,ahugepure-electricSUV,willuse
thesameunderpinnings.Thisdevelopment
willallowVolvotoexploiteconomiesof
scaleandmakeabigseven-seater.
Thenewvehicle,previewedbottom,
right,isalreadysaidtohavetheinternal
projectcodeV616,denoting‘6’forthe
largestsizeinVolvo’srange,‘1’forthefirst
generationofthevehicleand‘6’fortheSUV
bodystyle.It’ssaidtobearound30cmlonger
thanthecurrentXC90andslightlylengthier
thaneventheBMWX7,at5.2metres.This
gainwillbesharedbetweenthewheelbase
–improvingsecond-rowlegroom–andthe
rearoverhang,improvingtheseven-seat
functionalityandbootcapacity.
TheXC100islikelytofeatureamixture
ofhigher-endpowertrainsfromthe
manufacturer’sline-up,withentry-level
editionsusingahigh-poweredpetrol-
basedmild-hybridset-up,andalternatives
availablewithbothplug-inhybridand
pure-electricconfigurations.
ThenewflagshipSUVhasbeenmade
possiblenotonlybybuyertrendsinkey
markets,includingtheUnitedStates
andChina,butalsobyVolvo’simproved
brandstrength.Thiswillsupportanew
highpointinthefirm’spricingstrategy,
becausewhenequippedwithmore
expensivepowertrains,theXC100could
wellcostmorethan£80,000.EXCLUSIVEIMAGES
BABY XC
Our exclusive images
showcase what the
smallestmember
of Volvo’s XC family
could look like