Volvo are working on another new platform at the moment. It’s called the C-segment Modular Architecture (CMA) and will sit under at least two new cars. The first will be a new generation of the V40 hatchback. The current generation is loosely based on the Ford Focus and offers more premium features in order to compete with Mercedes-Benz’s A-Class and BMW’s 1 Series. It’s proven quite popular and Volvo will use the CMA platform to launch a new one round about 2016, just four years after the current model came out.
The CMA’s other big job will be to underpin a small SUV called the XC40. Even though it’s been rumored for a long time, this posh new model will only be ready in 2018. By that time, the market will be occupied by a new BMW X1 that’s based on the new MINI platform the new Audi Q3 based on the MQB and two models from Mercedes, the GLA and GLB.
“It’s a very natural choice for Volvo. You then have a very nice lineup: XC90, XC60, XC40. Small SUVs, that’s where you see the growth. You see it overall downsizing, so I see big business in the future as it is now, but continuing for the C segment premium end of the market. We see that shift, we see sedans going into SUVs,” says Kerssemakers. What will a Volvo rival for the BMW X1 look like? Probably a lot like the XC Coupe concept of 2013, itself a partial preview of the XC90.
Volvo is technically the first premium company to offer plug-in versions of its normal cars. They are committed to reducing greenhouse emissions without compromising performance and have even made a PHEV the top-spec motor for the XC90, which is their flagship.
The V40 and XC40 will both get plug-in motors, most likely based on four-cylinder turbo units. the Swedish company official told said that “25 per cent of our total volume is filled with plug-in hybrids, depending on the country. ”But the cherry of this report has to be that Kerssemakers said the CMA platform could even be used to make a new C30: “yes, we are free to do whatever we want.” It’s by no means a certainty, but we’re hopeful that Volvo has the money to revive one of the most interesting 3-door hatchback ever made.
