Volvo Cars reveals new XC40 compact SUV

Volvo Cars, the premium car maker, today revealed its new XC40 small premium SUV in Milan, Italy. The XC40, which sits below the XC60 and XC90 as the third model in Volvo's SUV line-up, is being launched into a booming market segment. 

Volvo estimates that global premium compact SUV sales are likely to exceed one million by 2020 – a tenfold increase on volumes in 2010. But it also marks a dramatic expansion in the brand’s portfolio and the start of a final move away from the Ford architecture that has underpinned its smaller cars since the turn of the century.

Volvo boss Hakan Samuelsson highlighted the car's importance to the brand's resurgence, saying: "It's intended for a very important segment; the world's fastest growing. I think we have absolutely the right product for the future."

The new XC40 is the first model on Volvo Cars’ new modular vehicle architecture (CMA), which will underpin all other upcoming cars in the 40 Series including fully electrified vehicles. Co-developed within Geely, CMA provides the company with the necessary economies of scale for this segment.

“The XC40 is our first entry in the small SUV segment, broadening the appeal of the Volvo brand and moving it in a new direction,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive. “It represents a fresh, creative and distinctive new member of the Volvo line-up. So it only feels natural to reveal the XC40 here in Milan, a buzzing European hotspot for fashion, art, design and lifestyle.”

Work on the new CMA platform – which will underpin at least two other Volvos as well as future models from Chinese parent company Geely’s Lynk & Co sub-brand – started in 2013 and necessitated the recruitment of hundreds of engineers. 

The XC40 shares a strong family resemblance with the bigger XC60 and XC90, but Volvo says the design brief was to create a car that looked like more than a smaller sibling. 

Underneath, the XC40’s engineering is almost entirely conventional. The clever part of CMA is how adaptable it is for cars of different sizes and using different powertrains. The bodyshell uses steel rather than any expensive alloys, with MacPherson strut suspension at the front and a multi-link rear axle.

In terms of technology, the XC40 brings the award-winning safety, connectivity and infotainment technologies known from the new 90- and 60 Series cars to the small SUV segment. Like its larger siblings, the XC40 highlights the transformational effect of these new, in-house developed technologies on brand and profitability.

These technologies make the XC40 one of the best-equipped small premium SUVs on the market. Safety and driver assistance features on the XC40 include Volvo Cars’ Pilot Assist system (pictured above), City Safety, Run-off Road protection and mitigation, Cross Traffic alert with brake support and the 360deg camera that helps drivers manoeuvre their car into tight parking spaces.

The XC40 also offers a radically new approach to storage inside the car. Ingenious interior design provides XC40 drivers with, among other things, more functional storage space in the doors and under the seats, a special space for phones including inductive charging, a fold-out hook for small bags and a removable waste bin in the tunnel console.

From start of production, the XC40 will be available with a D4 diesel or a T5 petrol four-cylinder Drive-E powertrain. Further powertrain options, including a hybridised as well as a pure electric version, will be added later. The XC40 will also be the first Volvo model to be available with Volvo Cars’ new 3-cylinder engine.

Production of the new XC40 starts in Volvo Cars’ plant in Ghent, Belgium in November.

The new XC40 SUV will take on the likes of the Mercedes GLA, the Range Rover Evoque and the Audi Q3. It will be safe to expect Volvo to bring this new SUV to the Indian market next year.